


Akashi Gets Served; or, The Crew of Miracles

by Avatar_KiyoshiTeppei



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Comedy, Gen, M/M, dance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-05
Updated: 2016-07-11
Packaged: 2018-07-21 17:22:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 24,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7396600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Avatar_KiyoshiTeppei/pseuds/Avatar_KiyoshiTeppei
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Akashi receives a challenge to a dance competition; naturally, he needs Kagami's help.</p><p>It's on!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. At a Disadvantage

Sunday night, the clock said 7:33, and Kagami Taiga just wished he could be done with his stupid Japanese History essay so he could hit the court before it got too late. Not like late night practice wasn’t fun, but he was in the mood for some competition: he wanted some people to be still hanging around.

So when his phone buzzed, Kagami almost jumped on it in the hopes Kuroko was going to save him from homework, or at least help it go faster. But it was a number he didn’t recognize.

_What does it mean in English when “you got served?”_

Kagami raised an eyebrow. Was this some kind of prank? _hu is this_

_Akashi Seijūrō_

He had to look up from his phone. This couldn’t be happening. Kagami debated pretending he wasn’t Kagami Taiga, and that Akashi had the wrong number. Would Akashi believe that?

Kuroko’s voice echoed in his head: “Akashi-kun is always a few moves ahead. Even when he’s wrong, he’s ready for that.”

So he’d be ready for Kagami to pretend it wasn’t the right number? Or… he made sure he had the right number? Kagami was starting to get confused. Maybe it was best to just be himself: _wtf dude_

Almost immediately his phone buzzed again: _What does it mean in English when “you got served?”_

Kagami put his fingers to the bridge of his nose and then let his hand cradle his face before replying. _it means u got styled on I gess?_

_I don’t understand._

Kagami could almost feel the eyes on him. _u no, they lookd good and made u look bad_

_That’s almost laughable._

Kagami put his phone down, happy to have a chance to return to his essay. He never thought he’d be happy to do homework, but he simply channeled the motivation, sighing as he picked up his notes on the Tokugawa shogunate. Now, was the appearance of Christianity in Japan a sign of weakness in the government?

His phone buzzed again. Kagami had half a mind to ignore it. It was already almost eight. He reached out against his better judgment and flipped it open.

Akashi again.

_Then, what does it mean when “it’s on?”_

Kagami’s heart jumped. _r u srs? where did u hear that_

He didn’t put his phone down this time. Akashi was in trouble; of this much Kagami was sure. The poor weirdo had no idea what he had stirred up.

_I’ve somehow insulted a group of street dancers. They’ve said “it’s on.” I understand you have some experience in these matters._

Street dancers? Kagami hadn’t realized it, but he’d been holding his breath. Now his heart began to beat again, and quickly. He wasn’t even going to _ask_ how Akashi knew he liked to dance. This was looking weirder and weirder.

_dude u mite b in truble_

_Would I still be in trouble if you taught me what you know?_

What was happening? Kagami stared at the text for too long, and another came from Akashi.

_You seem to know quite a lot, and I find myself…at a disadvantage._

Hang on. Kagami floundered for something to respond with, some kind of polite “no” to this terrifying shorty who was too important to Kuroko.

_I’m sure you wouldn’t mind staying a few minutes after your practice this Saturday._

This was not happening! Wait - Akashi didn’t even use Internet shorthand – how could he type so fast?

Ugh, it was too late…

Kagami put his phone down and then rested his head in his hands. He was still mostly convinced that Akashi was a total psycho, and usually that meant Kagami would steer clear—no favors.

Except for two things – the first of which was that phrase: “it’s on.” When it had appeared in Kagami’s past, in L.A., it had only meant one thing: a dance battle. It was not a phrase used lightly.

The second thing was pretty close to the first – could Akashi break it down? In the heat of things, Kagami knew that often the only thing that could save your skin was true love of the dance. And what would another loss do to that weirdo’s mental state?

Regardless, he had to text his bro, Tatsuya. If anyone could help him navigate this mess, it’d be him. Hopefully he would help, and not simply laugh, and laugh…


	2. No Scissors

At Monday’s practice, Kagami gave Kuroko his phone and showed him the conversation that was burning a hole in Kagami’s pocket.

Kuroko was still looking at the conversation when he asked, “Kagami-kun seems very serious about this. Does Akashi-kun really need a dance instructor?”

Kagami groaned. “Definitely…I really don’t think Akashi knows how bad he’s gonna look…”

Kuroko tilted his head. “But I heard from Midorima-kun that Akashi-kun was classically trained in ballet. Shouldn’t he already know enough by now?”

Grimacing, Kagami muttered, “Wow, I should’ve guessed. No, if I’m right about the kind of dancing Akashi’s gotten himself involved in…it’s called ‘breaking,’ and it’s a lot different from ballet.”

Kuroko seemed to be able to tell that Kagami had a lot to say, and watched him with wide and interested eyes.

“It’s about power, and expression – about feeling the rhythm flow through you as you put your inner desires out there.”

Kagami rubbed at his neck. “Oh, and, uh, it comes from black people in America. So. I doubt Akashi’s learned it from his private tutors.”

Kuroko continued to watch him, listening intently.

Kagami grumbled and sighed. “So, yeah, considering the situation…I’m pretty sure I’m gonna have to teach Akashi how to dance.”

Kuroko frowned slightly. “What does ‘the situation’ mean?”

“Oh.” Kagami snorted. “Right – you wouldn’t know. There’s a kind of…uh, etiquette, I guess, to these things. If you make somebody look bad, and then they get you back, then you have to prove who’s the best. Formally. Kind of.”

“Like a duel?” Kuroko sounded as if he might laugh, but his expression remained still.

Kagami nodded. “Well…yeah. Sometimes people get that serious, too. Although I hope it’s not like that this time.”

Kuroko nodded as well, and let the silence speak for him.

“Anyway,” Kagami sighed, “I can’t let Akashi go out there without any preparation.”

Kuroko smiled and met Kagami’s eyes. “It always impresses me how nice Kagami-kun is.”

And with that, Kagami knew he just had to do it. Kuroko’s eyes…

“…thanks, Kuroko.” Kagami rubbed at his neck, feeling heat starting to rise in his cheeks. “But…are you sure he’s not gonna like…try and stab me again or something?”

Kuroko’s eyes widened somehow. “Oh, no. Akashi-kun would never do that again. He has absolutely seen how wrong he was.”

Kagami really wanted to believe Kuroko, so he shrugged. “Alright. Well…I still think he’s crazy.”

Kuroko grinned. “He has that effect on people.” He held his fist up for a bump, and Kagami met him halfway. “Should I bring anything to practice to help you train for dancing?”

Kagami shrugged and grinned as well. “No scissors.”

~~~

“Why not just let him lose?” Once they’d begun to talk about the dance-off, Tatsuya wouldn’t speak anything but English in front of Murasakibara, but the tall boy didn’t seem to care. He just poured chips into his mouth with one hand and held Tatsuya’s boom-box with the other.

“He literally changed into a different person at his first loss, bro. What if he, like…I don’t know, Hulks out or something?” Kagami glared at him. Tatsuya laughed.

“Taiga, come on! I’d pay to watch that!”

“You’re only saying that ‘cuz you lost.”

Tatsuya stopped laughing. “So the fuck what? He should get what’s comin’, right? ’S not even basketball, so who cares?”

“What are Kagami-kun and Himuro-san talking about?” Kuroko asked. Tatsuya jumped, hearing Kuroko’s voice right behind him; Kagami blinked and looked around for him. Kuroko was facing them.

“They want to watch Aka-chin fall on his face.” Murasakibara mumbled. “Me too.”

“Hey! We are here to _help_ Akashi learn to dance!” Kagami crossed his arms. “And besides, we need a crew. It can’t just be him out there.”

Tatsuya began laughing again. “I was worried you’d say that. I hate to leave you out in the cold, bro, but…ah…”

“You’re kidding me.” Kagami narrowed his eyes.

Tatsuya threw his hands up. “Hey, if it was you that got challenged—of course I’d throw down. But not for that guy. And if you knew what was good for you, you wouldn’t either. We don’t even know who called him out!”

Kuroko raised his hand. “I still don’t understand what we’re talking about. Even though it’s in Japanese.”

Tatsuya sighed. “Street dancing is pretty serious where we’re from, Kuroko-kun.”

“You have to help me _somehow!_ ” Kagami couldn’t believe Tatsuya was about to leave. As if the words were finally having effect, Tatsuya seemed to be studying him.

“Alright, fine. How about I help with choreography?”

Murasakibara coughed on a chip. “How long are we gonna be here?”

Tatsuya tugged on Murasakibara’s sleeve, and then the four of them walked into Seirin’s gym. Inside, Akashi was already there, observing as Kise stretched; Aomine was playing basketball against Hayama. Kagami wished he could call this whole thing off and join them; Akashi’s eyes fell on him like iced lightning, which seemed to empty his mind of any thoughts of basketball. But then, Akashi bowed…?

“Ah, Kagami-san—thank you for coming. It’s good to see you.” Akashi rose from his bow and then greeted Tatsuya, Kuroko, and Murasakibara with nods of the head. “Kuroko, Himuro-san, Murasakibara – I’m glad you’re well.”

Then, he turned his eyes and head to Kise behind him, and swept his hand to gesture to Aomine and Hayama. “I’ve brought the most athletic of our group.”

Kagami decided to focus on business instead of trying to parse the billions of questions he had about Akashi’s personality crisis. He watched Aomine dunk over Hayama and shrugged. “Hey, Aomine! Show me what you got!”

Aomine came down smoothly and padded over with a grin.

“What’s your song?” Kagami pulled his computer out of his backpack and began hooking it up to Tatsuya’s boom box.

Aomine tilted his head. “I don’t need a song. Check this out!”

He sank into his heels and, like a cascade, flung himself into a backflip. He gave Kagami a thumbs-up. Kuroko clapped.

“That’s not dancing,” Tatsuya said. Akashi frowned and looked at Kagami. Kagami really didn’t want to feel that gaze any longer than was necessary, but met it with his own.

“He’s right. Aomine, try this.”

Kagami switched to his 90s rap playlist and hit shuffle. 2pac came up first.

Aomine didn’t look confident, so Kagami said, “Do some steps. You know: move your feet, and then you can do your acrobatics.”

Aomine nodded, and stepped backwards before doing a backflip. It wasn’t on beat. Kagami heard Tatsuya snicker.

“Uh, Aomine, maybe this isn’t your thing.” Kagami made sure he spoke before Tatsuya did. Aomine shrugged.

“If that isn’t dancing, then it’s dumb anyway.” He grinned. Kagami sighed and looked at Tatsuya, who had his hand over his mouth. Kuroko watched Aomine go back to dribbling; then, Kuroko looked at Kagami. Akashi’s frown hadn’t changed since Aomine’s first backflip.

“I want to go next!” Kise beamed. Kagami nodded.

Kise’s eyes narrowed to darker, sultry tones. As the downbeat came, Kise’s hips, waist, and shoulders moved side-to-side like silk; then, he pushed and thrust himself forward effortlessly, his feet gliding along. Suddenly, he was turning with the second verse, and his arms outstretched, turning with him. Hayama was the first to cheer, and then Kagami joined:

“Yeah, that’s dancing!”

“He’s pretty good.” Tatsuya agreed.

Kise finished by diving dangerously and doing a windmill, spinning on his back and hurling his outstretched legs in the air. It was flawless and very fast; and, yet, Kagami had no idea why he was doing it right now.

“Uh, hey, stop that.”

Kise stopped and got up. “Was I doing it right?”

“Yeah but…why did you start doing a windmill?”

“Well…we’re doing a dance-off, right? I have to do cool moves!” His eyes shone with glee. Kagami tried to figure out how to put it best, but Tatsuya beat him to the punch.

“You can’t just toss in a cool move whenever you want.”

Kise’s expression dropped. Kagami punched Tatsuya’s shoulder; Tatsuya shot him an amused glare.

“Like you should talk.” Kagami grunted. To Kise: “Seriously, your moves are great. We can work on choreography later. You’re in.”

“Really?” Kise jumped.

“Yeah, really. Where did you learn to windmill like that?” Kagami figured it was model training or…something.

“I watched some videos and practiced a bit in between modeling shoots.”

Kagami turned to look at Tatsuya and Kuroko.

Tatsuya was doing his best not to look impressed as he said, “Of course; it makes sense that his Perfect Copy ability would carry over to dance as well.”

Kuroko was smiling, proud of his friend. Kagami nodded.

“Cool.  Hayama, you’re up.”

Hayama came over and grinned. “This seemed kinda weird when Akashi told me to come, but now I’m interested. So…how do I do that leg-spin thing that Kise did?”

Tatsuya hummed to himself. “Hayama is pretty springy. He should probably be the power head, no?”

Kagami raised an eyebrow and nodded. “Yeah…that could work.”

“If you don’t mind my asking, would you please explain?” Akashi’s arms were still crossed.

“There’s a lot of things you’ll pick up along the way, so don’t worry about it. ‘Power head’ means Hayama’s going to be doing the acrobatics.” Tatsuya shrugged. Akashi nodded as well, unfolded his arms to rest them on his hips.

“I see. Then what will you two be doing?”

Kagami looked at Tatsuya, hoping his sudden nervousness hadn’t made it to his eyes yet. Himuro was looking at Akashi with only amusement on his face.

“Oh, no, I’m not dancing. I’ve seen what happens to your teams.”

If Kagami was shocked, he could only imagine how shocked Kuroko was, because it _actually showed_ in Kuroko’s expression. Murasakibara dropped his bag of chips.

“If I understand the terminology correctly, I believe I’ve been served once more.” Akashi chuckled. “All the more reason to ask you once more – will you join?”

Tatsuya huffed. “Look – I’m doing choreography _for my bro’s sake_ , but I’m not dancing. And, anyway, I’m a style head and so’s Taiga, although he’ll never admit it.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Kagami grunted. Tatsuya laughed.

“Show me how to spin like Kise already!” Hayama shouted.


	3. Ballet does NOT count as Old-School

Hayama turned out not only to have a true thirst for breaking, but also to have natural talent: his toprock footwork looked “downright ‘80s” according to Tatsuya, a statement which Kagami assured everyone was pretty much a compliment.

However, once the clock struck four, Akashi insisted that Hayama return to work on his homework. Aomine had left once it became clear that no one would be playing more basketball. Kise left with Hayama; he had stayed to watch Kagami and Tatsuya move with Hayama. His golden eyes had traced every motion.

“You don’t have much confidence in me,” Akashi said a few moments after Hayama had left. Silence followed the remark, punctuated by Murasakibara’s opening of a package of umaiubō. This time it was Tatsuya who looked at Kagami. Kagami sighed.

“Hey, it’s…well…um. Before I say anything, let’s see your moves.”

Akashi nodded. “I don’t have a song.”

Kagami shrugged and hit play. It was Daft Punk. Akashi let the music play for a moment before beginning some turns, leaps, hand and arm gestures.

…Ballet. He was certainly graceful. Very precise, well-trained. Kagami didn’t think _Discovery_ was going to sound the same ever again. And now he understood (or thought he understood) why Akashi had waited to dance until there were fewer spectators. 

Amazingly, Tatsuya hadn’t said anything by the time Akashi finished his brief demonstration. Akashi came down off an arabesque en demi-pointe and turned to face them.

“It’s nothing like what we need.” He raised an eyebrow at them and cupped his chin in thought.

When no one said anything else, Kagami blurted, “How did you serve them back, anyway?”

Tatsuya’s snicker was genuine; Murasakibara stopped scraping frosting off of a wrapper to listen; Kuroko, as usual, was quietly curious.

Akashi regarded him for a moment, before a smile crept to his eyes. “A simple opening move, though few see it coming…I ankle-broke them, one by one.”

At this point Kagami had to laugh too. “So you ankle-broke…how many people?”

“Five.”

“In a row?”

Akashi nodded.

Tatsuya whistled. “No shit they got served.”

Kagami stopped with a sudden thought: “Five – but…”

Tatsuya nodded. “You, Akashi, Kise, Hayama…you guys need a fifth. And my suggestion…is a shorty.”

Everyone but Kagami looked at Tatsuya with questioning eyes; Kagami simply sighed.

“Damn it, Tatsuya. Who?”

“What’s a ‘shorty?’” Akashi asked pointedly.

Tatsuya met his gaze before replying, “You never heard of a ‘shawty,’ Akashi?”

Akashi narrowed his eyes.

“It’s a girl!” Kagami said. Kuroko looked at Kagami and then returned to watching Akashi.

“But it’s more of a type than a girl, you know?” Tatsuya continued.

Murasakibara huffed and lay out flat on his back.

“Can’t believe we’re _stillllltalkingggggg_ …” he muttered.

Akashi raised an eyebrow at Murasakibara, then turned his uneven brows to Kagami.

“He’s right. You have to teach me how to, ah…yes, break it down.”

 

~~~

 

Unsurprisingly, Akashi learned the basic footwork of toprock quickly – he compared it to basketball, to ballet, to equitation (whatever that meant), _and_ to shōgi, so Kagami and Tatsuya decided to move on to downrock, of which the handstand-like freezes would be the hardest.

To practice, Kagami held Akashi’s ankles so that Akashi could move back and forth through the balance point of a shoulder freeze. Akashi’s wrists and elbows quivered slightly where they braced his shoulder against the ground, pushing back and forth to lose, regain, and re-lose balance.

“So, can you feel–”

“Now, yes.” Akashi looked up at Kagami, blinking from sweat.

“So what do you think you’re gonna do from here?” Tatsuya crouched down to ask. Akashi was silent for a moment.

“I suppose I could change my balance to roll onto my back, or fall into another move.” 

Tatsuya nodded at Kagami. “Alright, he’s getting it.”

Kagami let go of Akashi suddenly and let him figure it out. The hard-edged muscles in Akashi’s arms stood out even more as he snatched at the floor, and his legs swung around in the air. He did manage to find the balance point again before tumbling forward and curling onto his knees. He whirled around to face Kagami.

“It’s supposed to be like that.” Kagami grinned at him. “You know, like this.”

He stepped to the right to feel his own beat, then crossed his left foot past his right to twist them, untwisted his body around using his hips as the axis, and bent himself at the waist, hurling his legs into the air. He could feel Kuroko’s eyes on him, and when he landed, he tossed him a smile. Kuroko clapped. So did Akashi.

“You’re right. It’s not controlled – or, it’s not step-by-step.” Akashi was smiling too. Kagami didn’t know if he should keep smiling, but he did anyway, and rubbed at his hair.

“Yeah, that’s a good way to think about it.”

Akashi put his hand to his chin, indicating he was thinking. “Could you do that…spin-jump move again?”

Kagami shrugged and repeated his steps. When he had landed, Akashi crossed his left leg over his right, untangled his legs in a spin, and leaped into the air. He spun, he landed…

“Don’t be afraid to waste some time, Akashi.” Tatsuya offered with a chuckle. “Get flashy.”

Akashi’s eyes unfocused for a moment; Kagami watched his brow move, his stance shift. A bead of sweat traced its way from his temple down past sweat-darkened red hair along the toned lines of his neck and into his shirt, where it vanished.

Then, Akashi’s eyes closed, and a small smile played over his mouth as he stepped diagonal-forward, diagonal-back, his arms and hands almost clapping together as they crossed over in front of his neck. He stepped his left heel behind his right ankle and spun, tossing himself into the air and letting his legs fall out, looking for a moment as if he were simply hanging in place.

Kagami and Tatsuya realized too late that Akashi had miscalculated, and rushed forward. Somehow Akashi was fast enough to get his shins and elbows under him and crashed onto them instead of his face.

“Is Akashi-kun okay?” Kagami heard Kuroko say. Akashi picked himself up with a grimace, eyeing reddened knees and arms. He nodded and sighed.

“I suppose I’m still a novice?” He gave Kagami and Tatsuya a weary grin. Kagami punched him in the shoulder.

“That was dope.”

Tatsuya chuckled. “I wouldn’t go that far. But yeah, keep practicing. I think you’re getting it.”

Suddenly, Kagami remembered: “Oh, yeah – how long do we have before the dance battle?”

Akashi smiled and said, “It is this Sunday.”

Kagami realized that he had been gaining more and more confidence in this, uh…event, but now Akashi had drained all the confidence from him. Why was Akashi so good at doing that sort of thing?

“You’re kidding.” Tatsuya sputtered.

“That’s not very much time.” Even Kuroko was worried, though it hadn’t reached his eyes.

Murasakibara seemed disinterested, but when Tatsuya looked at him, his narrowed eyes offered what might be sympathy.

“I tolja you shoulda said no, bro.” Tatsuya said in English. Kagami wished he could actually get some sympathy here, but he knew the trash talk too well to say anything in response. He clenched his fists, released them and let out a frustrated sigh.

“Why didn’t you tell me this earlier?” He turned to Akashi, hoping he’d get something besides an uncomfortable stare, or a riposte. Akashi smiled. Damn him.

“You wouldn’t have agreed to meet me if you’d known how little time there would be.”

Kagami threw his hands forward. “But we could’ve met earlier to –”

Akashi held up a palm, still smiling. “Kagami-san – please. I appreciate your enthusiasm, but I don’t think you really mean that.”

He chuckled with an amused tilt of the head. “We still barely know each other. Would you have met me in the middle of the day to practice dancing? You probably yet think I’m not entirely sane. And I don’t blame you.”

Kagami pressed his lips together and glared at the ceiling. “Yeah…well…”

Both of them let silence fill in the gaps for a moment; then, Akashi swept his eyes over the other three. He put his hands on his hips, and a familiar look entered his suddenly narrowing gaze. Murasakibara stopped chewing for a moment.

“I think it is now time for all of us to come up with a plan of action. We have six days to practice, and we don’t even have a full squad.”

Even Tatsuya had a game face on at this point. He had a hand on his hip, and his visible eyebrow was arched.

“All of us have to devote a significant amount of time both to practice and to searching for a–” Akashi paused to rub at his left eye.

“Must we call her a ‘shorty?’”

“It’s proper terminology.” Tatsuya offered.

Akashi shrugged and continued. “I will take what I have learned here and instruct Hayama on my own; I’ll check in with Kagami-san and Himuro-san by Wednesday.”

Turning to Kagami, he smiled. “I assume you don’t need me to tell you what to do. You’ve been tremendous help so far, but I can only imagine how crucial your routine will be when the day comes.”

Kagami blushed. “Hey, it’s okay. I like to dance.” That sounded dumb…but it wasn’t false.

“Kuroko, as you aren’t practicing dancing or traveling a great distance, would you be willing to devote some time toward looking for our ‘shorty?’” Akashi raised an eyebrow as he regarded Kuroko. Kuroko gave Akashi a look.

“Yes.” He nodded, then added, “Though I don’t know many girls.”

Akashi chuckled once. “I’m sure Kagami can help with that.”

What was that supposed to mean? “I don’t know a lot of girls either!”

“You might be surprised how many people want to know a tall basketball player,” Akashi said with an air of finality. Then, he turned to Tatsuya and Murasakibara.

“You two have done enough, and at great expense. Thank you, Himuro-san and Murasakibara.” He bowed.

“You know…I’m intrigued now,” Tatsuya said after returning the bow. “And while I don’t really feel like dancing, after watching Kise’s half-baked routine…I think I could make something out of him.”

Akashi smiled. “Honestly, he was the least of my worries – Kise always has been a quick study. But it’s good to hear you have a plan.”

Kagami picked up Tatsuya’s eyes and questioned him with a look and shrug, but Tatsuya shook his head and smiled.

“Worry about yourselves first. You’re knee-deep in—”

Akashi cleared his throat to interrupt Tatsuya. “If you don’t mind my asking, how do you plan on training Kise all the way from Akita?”

Tatsuya chuckled. “Ah, so you don’t know everything! Kise will be modeling in Akita Wednesday through Friday.”

After that, Akashi regarded Tatsuya with wider eyes.

“How do _you_ know that?” Kagami asked. Tatsuya held up his phone.

“Texting, bro. The modern age?” 

“Then we are decided, yes?” Akashi put his hands together to draw attention with a clap, then crossed his arms. They all looked at him, and he nodded.

“Himuro-san, I wish you the best with Kise. I will see to myself and Hayama while also searching for our, ah, fifth person. Kuroko, Kagami-san – you will also look for the ‘shorty,’ yes?”

They all nodded, and Akashi nodded as well. Kagami realized that he was now on a team with Akashi; at least his basketball reputation wasn’t on the line. But if he had hoped to get a few answers about some of Akashi’s tendencies…well, now he just had more things to wonder about.

Like the fact that he had just instinctively let Akashi Seijūro be the captain for his dance crew?

And the fact that he was letting his street cred ride on a kid who considered personality crises a legitimate strategy?

Kagami stopped wondering and started packing up his things. Kuroko picked up their warm-up uniforms and helped unplug Tatsuya’s boom-box. Now that the talking and dancing was done, Tatsuya actually seemed unsure of what to do.

“I admit, Himuro-san, I have a frustration to work out. Shall we play a little one-on-one?” Akashi pointed toward the basketball in Kuroko’s hands. Kagami froze. Murasakibara watched Akashi from behind his hair; Kuroko did not stop cleaning, though his attention remained on Akashi.

Tatsuya ran a hand through his bangs. “You’re on.”

“It is, of course, a friendly game.” Akashi extended his hand. Tatsuya shook it.

“For now,” Tatsuya said, a grin spreading across his face. “Best of three?”

“I think that’s fair.”

Kagami and Kuroko tossed their remaining things into their duffels to watch. Akashi and Tatsuya held their fists out, rocked them up and down three times, and on the third time down, Akashi pulled rock, as did Tatsuya. Akashi smiled, and Tatsuya nodded. The second time, Tatsuya threw rock and Akashi threw paper; Tatsuya stomped once and took the basketball to half court.

He passed it to Akashi, who passed it back, and then Tatsuya passed it back again and Akashi dribbled, his legs and arms like pistons, his eyes like spears. Tatsuya kept pace, still wearing his grin. 

“This is something I’ve been waiting for.”

Akashi seemed not to hear as he dribbled between his legs and crossed over, but Tatsuya had waited for Akashi to move first.

“Aw, looking for an ankle-break? Somebody still hears that word they don’t like…”

What was Tatsuya doing? Kagami still had an image in his head of a crazy little boy with scissors.

“Shorty!”

Akashi’s eyes widened and he finally looked right at Tatsuya, pausing. Then, he sighed and dropped his shoulders and turned back to the hoop. Tatsuya’s fingers shot for the ball, and Akashi narrowly snatched it away from him, crouching and springing in one motion to go for a fadeaway shot.

“Shorty!” Tatsuya shouted before Akashi had released. He still made the basket, but gave Tatsuya a sour look as he picked up the ball and brought it to half-court to pass it to Tatsuya.

“Don’t like it, do ya?” Tatsuya said once he’d started dribbling himself. Kagami saw Akashi take a small breath and knew Akashi was watching –for that first step, the first _potential_ mistake. Tatsuya kept the ball very far away, hoping to use his height against Akashi, but even though he took off as quickly as he could, when his hand reached for the ball to dribble again – there was not a basketball there. Murasakibara giggled.

“If it were that easy, Murochin, I’d’ve been captain…”

The sound of dribbling was accompanied by Akashi’s footsteps, and he was at the hoop, airborne and making a layup. He landed and picked up the ball where it was rolling to pass it back to Tatsuya.

“You _sure_ work hard at being perfect,” Tatsuya said with a grimace. Akashi let out a breath at that.

“Compensating?”

Akashi’s eyes narrowed as Tatsuya took a step forward, and this time Tatsuya just took the ball up and went for a shot. As usual, his ultra-polished by-the-book skills made it look easy, and Kagami nearly missed the fact that he was entering a shooting stance. He almost released it before it was in Akashi’s hands again. Tatsuya grunted and dashed after him, jumping to block his layup.

“Shorty!”

“Tatsuya!” Kagami shouted, outraged.

The ball rolled around the hoop, almost rolling out, but then rolling in. Akashi turned to look at Tatsuya.

“Was it truly necessary to make an ass of yourself?”

Kagami had not expected to reach a point in his life where he would agree with Akashi on a matter of personal conduct, but here he was.

“Do you think there _isn’t_ going to be shit-talk when you’re out there dancing?”

Kagami opened his mouth to say something, but for whatever reason didn’t. He found Kuroko looking at him with curiosity in his wide eyes.

Akashi snorted. “I would like to think there are better ways to prepare someone for such things.”

Tatsuya shrugged. “If you’ve got some better way, shoot.”

A brief pause followed as they caught their breath.

“Besides,” Tatsuya added with a wink, “I went easy on you.”

Akashi’s eyes focused on Tatsuya. “I have worked out my frustration. Have you?”

His target laughed. “Oh, definitely. Come on, Atsushi – hasn’t this been fun?”

“Murochin is going to get in trouble…” Murasakibara grumbled, picking up his satchel of snacks and Tatsuya’s boom-box as they left.

Kagami turned to look at Akashi, who was…grinning.

Kagami looked at Kuroko, whose phone buzzed suddenly.

“That’s my reminder to work on my Physics project. Akashi-kun, Kagami-kun – it was fun to hang out. I’ll see you soon.”

With that, he picked up his duffle bag and left, but not without smiling at Kagami over his shoulder. Kagami realized too late that he should’ve left with Kuroko, because now it was just he and Akashi. Crap.

“This has certainly been an extraordinary experience.” Akashi laughed as he rubbed at his forehead. He turned to look at Kagami. “Don’t worry – I am enjoying it.” 

What the hell? “Uh, cool.” Kagami looked at his duffel bag and backpack.

Akashi shook his head. “I realize I’m…imposing. Forgive me, Kagami-san. I should let you leave.”

“That’s not…” Kagami didn’t want Kuroko’s middle-school friend to think he was a jerk.

“No – I’ve asked enough favors from you today. You don’t have to hang out with me too.” Akashi seemed amused – but Kagami still had trouble parsing him. Or maybe he just thought he had trouble parsing Akashi because at one point Akashi transformed into a totally different person, and Kagami was waiting for there to be another shoe to drop.

“It’s not like that. Tatsuya was being a jerk – but he’s kinda just…like that. I think he actually does like you.” Kagami did want to say that to him. Akashi tilted his head.

“I understood what he wanted to do, at least.” 

“Yeah, but…ugh, look.” If they were going to be on any team together, even a dance team, Kagami was going to have to be honest with Akashi.

“You’re a pretty weird dude, still. And it’s not like I don’t _want_ to do this or anything – but this is all kinda weird.”

Akashi’s head tilt relaxed, and he nodded.


	4. The Shorty

Tuesday.  Four full days left to practice.

After hearing Kagami’s idea in the locker room in the afternoon, Kuroko shook his head.

“If Coach doesn’t kill us for asking, I’m sure Hyūga-senpai will.”

Even before Kuroko had finished speaking, Kagami knew he was completely right. Kagami had hoped to catch Coach after practice to ask her, but…

“But I’m certain that Coach would kill us first. Hyūga-senpai would probably only get the chance to disrespect our lifeless bodies and prevent a proper burial.”

Kagami shivered at the remarkable detail. “That sounds just like the Captain when he’s angry…”

Kuroko nodded, expressionless. Kagami groaned and looked at the ceiling before stomping his foot and closing his eyes.

“Damn it! Coach is the only girl I know!”

When he opened his eyes again, Kuroko was smiling. Surprised, Kagami blushed.

“Kagami-kun really is very dedicated to basketball, isn’t he?” Kuroko said.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Kagami muttered, but he punched Kuroko’s shoulder lightly and laughed. “Yeah, I guess I am.”

“What about Garcia-san? Your teacher?”

“Alex?!” Kagami slapped a hand to the side of his head. “She’s not a girl! And no way!”

Kuroko seemed to be staring deep into him for a moment.

“What?” Kagami asked, suddenly aware that he still hadn’t put his school shirt on. He finished changing.

Kuroko pulled out his phone after he finished tying his shoes. “Do you think I should ask Momoi-san if she can dance?”

Kagami thought about it for a moment. “I mean, I guess she’s…I don’t know. We might be able to teach her the moves, but I never got the feeling that she could break it down. 

Kuroko looked up from his phone. “That phrase means something like going into the Zone, doesn’t it?”

“Whoa.” Kagami hadn’t thought of it like that before. “You could think of it like that. But it can be a lot more complicated in some ways, and a lot less complicated in others…”

Kuroko tilted his head, and Kagami realized he actually had a lot to say.

“You know how only the chosen can enter the Zone? Breaking it down isn’t like that, because everybody has rhythm – but you have to find it for yourself. Your groove isn’t like anybody else’s, and a lot of people are afraid of that.”

Kagami grinned, thrilled. “Once you learn to really break it down, you’re unstoppable.”

Kuroko made a hum of appreciation. Kagami scratched at his head, not sure if he was being too loud.

"And sometimes..." Kagami couldn’t help but smile again. “Everything else just falls away, and it’s only you and the music. And no one can take the spotlight from you. Just like the Zone.”

After a pause, Kuroko said, “I’m glad Akashi-kun asked you to help him.”

Kagami wasn’t sure if agreeing amusedly would be funny, so he smiled back. Kuroko’s phone buzzed, and he looked down.

“Momoi-san says she does not want to do sexy dancing, even to save face for Akashi-kun.”

“Shorty-dancing isn’t just sexy dancing!” Kagami blushed. Kuroko looked up at him blankly.

“Well—” Kagami struggled to continue, realizing that Kuroko wanted to convince Momoi with something…anything, really…

“Actually…” The realization dawned on him that the shorty pretty much was the sexiest one of the group.

Kuroko’s eyes drooped and he sighed. “I don’t have many more ideas, Kagami-kun.”

“Then what’s next?”

“Tsuchida-senpai has a girlfriend. At least he can tell you how to talk to girls.” Kuroko suggested. Kagami turned to Kuroko, in awe.

“Kuroko…you’re amazing! I never would’ve remembered that!” Kagami pumped his fists. “What a great idea!”

Kuroko turned back to his phone, but his cheeks looked a little pink.

 

~~~

 

“Hold on— _you two_ want me to teach you _both_ how to talk to – _girls?_ ”

Tsuchida-senpai had put his homework away at this point to listen wholeheartedly.

“Yes.” Kuroko’s gaze was firm.

Kagami added, “It’s really important, and you’re the only person we know with a girlfriend.”

“But…aren’t you…” Tsuchida-senpai turned his face back and forth to look at each of them repeatedly. Kagami scratched his cheek. Tsuchida-senpai blew out his breath sharply and laughed before shaking his head.

“Okay, sure. I’ll do it. But you have to tell me why.”

Kagami cleared his throat. “You remember, uh, Akashi Seijūrō, right?”

Tsuchida-senpai’s mouth opened and shut once before he said, “Excuse me?” 

“So, uh, he got challenged to a, uh, dance competition.” Kagami did his best not to fidget with his hands. Tsuchida-senpai was biting his lip. Was he annoyed?

“We need a girl to be a part of his dance team,” Kuroko added. A snort of laughter made Kagami step back for a moment, and then Tsuchida-senpai threw his smiling face backward, laughing and slapping his hand on his leg.

“Oh, wow!” He shook his head in between chuckles. “This is great. I’m in!”

Kagami turned to Kuroko with a smile; Kuroko met it with one of his own.

“Just wait until the team hears about this…!” Tsuchida-senpai grinned. “You two will be famous!”

 

~~~

 

Tsuchida-senpai’s advice turned out to be far more practical than Kagami had imagined. Living with Alex and working with Coach, he’d thought that all girls were kind of crazy. But it turned out that those two were outliers…

“The most important thing to remember is that everyone is different – so you’ll have to learn about the individual. Don’t expect one method to work for everyone.”

Kuroko and Kagami nodded. “Thanks, senpai.”

Tsuchida-senpai tilted his head. “Hey, when is this, uh…?”

Kagami’s face fell. “It’s Sunday.”

“Wow, you don’t have a lot of time.” Tsuchida-senpai rubbed his chin. “Maybe my girlfriend can ask around and see if anyone would be willing to join up…”

“You’d do that for us?” Kagami’s mouth fell open. Tsuchida-senpai nodded with a smile.

“Hey, we’re a team. And besides, I want to watch Akashi Seijūrō dance!”

 

~~~

 

Talking to girls turned out to be even weirder than Kagami expected, though. The next day, while waiting for news from Tsuchida-senpai’s girlfriend, Kagami and Kuroko split up during lunch to try and find someone who could help them.

While getting a third helping of teriyaki chicken, Kagami saw a girl he recognized from the swim team – she was ranked nationally for freestyle and butterfly. Kagami mustered up courage and walked over to her.

He bowed. “Good afternoon. I hope I’m not intruding. 

She shook her head. “Not at all. Good afternoon.” 

Kagami bowed again, putting his lunch tray down and sitting. “I’m Kagami Taiga.”

She smiled and bowed from her seat. “Tamada Reiko. Nice to meet you.”

Knowing what was next, Kagami blushed. “I have…an odd question.”

She blushed then too, and turned to her friends with a smile. The girl on her right pushed her shoulder. Kagami knew that meant something, and tried to remember if Tsuchida-senpai had mentioned this in his advice. Kagami had probably forgotten it…as he usually forgot lessons that weren’t related to basketball…

“Um, that’s okay…as long as it’s not a mean question!” Tamada replied. Kagami held up a hand.

“No! No way. It’s just…well, I have a lot of explaining to do if you say yes, that’s all.”

“Oh my gosh!” The girl on Tamada’s right said, pushing Tamada again.

“Shoot! I’m talking too much.” Kagami scratched his head. “Do you think you would want to dance competitively?”

Kagami had wanted to ask people directly if they’d participate in a dance-off with Akashi, but Kuroko had warned him that this would probably scare everyone off. Kagami had agreed. It would have scared off Kagami himself, after all.

Tamada and her friends immediately lost some of their former energy; Tamada asked, “What does that mean?”

Kagami smiled what he hoped was a winning smile, and called up what he and Kuroko had rehearsed. “I’m part of a small dance team, and we’re looking for a fifth person. Would you be interested in joining?”

Tamada’s face fell further. “Oh, um, I see.”

Kagami thought she might say something else, but realized then that she was waiting for him to say something. “Oh, uh, you know…don’t feel like you have to…”

“I…um. I’ll think about it. Thanks.”

With that, Tamada turned to her friend with a sigh, and Kagami at least was confident in interpreting this as a goodbye.

“It was nice to meet you,” he said, picking up his tray and heading off to look for Kuroko. As usual, their table toward the back of the lunch room was empty. Kagami set his tray down with a sigh and began to dig into his teriyaki.

“Kagami-kun hasn’t had any luck either?”

Kagami knew better than to jump, but Kuroko was getting seriously good at this. He swallowed his mouthful of food in a single gulp and coughed, turning to look at Kuroko, who was sitting next to him, probably “here the whole time.”

“Nope. Sheesh, no wonder everyone says talking to girls is really hard!”

Kuroko nodded. “Although, considering my experience, I would add that talking to anyone is really hard.”

“What’s that mean?” Kagami asked through a bite of food.

Kuroko looked at Kagami’s mouth and sighed. “While I did appear to interest the captain of our softball team with my offer of eternal dancing fame, it was her cohort of friends – both boys and girls – who demanded we show off our moves first.”

Kagami frowned. “I mean – I could –”

“Kagami-kun, do you really have time to eat _and_ dance?”

Kagami grinned. “Well, maybe…”

Kuroko smiled at that.

Kagami punched him lightly on the shoulder. “You’re right, though. It's already Wednesday. We don’t have time to waste…”

 

~~~

 

At practice, Tsuchida-senpai delivered bad news. His girlfriend had asked around, and she had found no one interested in joining. Plenty were interested in talking, and plenty were interested in watching – but none wanted to step up and dance. 

“Kuroko – what are we gonna do?” Kagami sat down on the locker room bench and groaned, his fists on his thighs. Kuroko pulled his shirt off and put it in his locker.

“I will text Akashi-kun and see if he has – ”

Kagami’s phone buzzed at that point. Kagami wasn’t sure why Kuroko stopped talking, but when he picked it up and saw the text was from Akashi…

_Do you have a moment to speak? Please call when you do._

“It sounds important, Kagami-kun.”

Kuroko was peering over his shoulder. Kagami nodded, and put his phone down to pull his school pants and socks on, then his shirt and jacket. 

Once he and Kuroko left the locker room, Kagami opened his phone and called Akashi, setting his phone to speaker so Kuroko could hear too.

“Good afternoon, Kagami-san.” Akashi’s crisp greeting was as airy as the spring weather. Kagami looked at Kuroko, who met his look without any expression, and then turned back to his phone.

“Uh, good afternoon…Akashi. So, what’s up?”

“I have excellent news for us. I have found the fifth member of our group, though you may find this person to be unorthodox, given your understanding of the…‘shorty.’”

Kagami raised an eyebrow. “Well…it’s not like any of this has been normal.”

Akashi laughed, a pleased, full sound. “You are certainly correct.”

“So, then, who is it?”

Kagami could hear the teeth in Akashi’s smile when he said, “Allow me a moment to explain.”

 

~~~

 

Last month’s plan had stated that Akashi would use this Wednesday afternoon to examine business rivals of his father’s and devise a study routine for midterms, but with the current developments, Akashi unfortunately found himself in Shinjuku. _  
_

_“You make business decisions?” Kagami sputtered._

_“If you don’t mind, I would prefer no interruptions.” Akashi chuckled. “This story will take a very long time otherwise.”_

“Hold here, Kawada-san.” Akashi held his hand to stop his driver, his eyes fixed on the flashing neon sign. It read, “Kabukichō’s No.1 Dance!”

“Akashi-san – are you sure? This isn’t the place for…”

Akashi opened the door of his car and stepped out. “I appreciate your concern, my friend. Unfortunately, there are things in motion…”

“I see. I’ll find a place to park.”

Akashi shut the door and strode to the sidewalk, melding into the crowds. He walked to the revolving doors and was stricken with music as he entered the vestibule. A woman dressed in – Akashi decided he would think of it as a bathing suit – stopped him.

“Good afternoon.” Akashi bowed.

“Honey, you aren’t getting in here.” She laughed and waved at him. “Don’t try.”

Akashi smiled. “You misunderstand. I’m not here for myself, necessarily.” 

She also smiled. “Maybe you misunderstand _me._ How old are you? Sixteen? You shouldn’t even be talking to me.”

Akashi sighed and raised a palm. “Perhaps you should give me a chance to explain. I am not interested in dancing of a sexual nature.”

The woman pointed to the door behind him. “Even more reason why you should leave.”

“How much would you charge to dance in a dance competition?” Akashi smiled with wide eyes. She put her palm to her forehead.

“Don’t make me call the police, kid. Go away.” 

Akashi sighed again, turned around, and left the way he came. He worked his way through the crowd and came out to the main street, thoughts clicking in his head. This was the third refusal. If even “Kabukichō’s No.1 Dance!” turned him down, then he wouldn’t try any of the other clubs he hadn’t yet visited. Kawada-san pulled up next to him as Akashi began walking along the sidewalk.

Akashi opened the door and said, “Thank you, my friend.”

“It doesn’t look like Akashi-san has been successful.”

Akashi sat down and buckled his seatbelt, resting his elbow on the leather windowsill and his jaw on his fist. He watched the buildings breeze by as Kawada-san drove them gradually to Akashi’s high-rise.

“No, Kawada-san. Success yet eludes me.”

Kawada-san nodded, silent. Akashi frowned and considered his remaining options. He did _not_ want to have to hire a professional ballerina – though he certainly had the means – and recruiting from outside Rakuzan would be inconvenient at best, and would make him an object of social ridicule at worst.

It was at this point that Akashi wondered if he was simply hallucinating as he saw a familiar rickshaw pedaling down the sidewalk. That there was the green-haired boy pedaling it made him almost certain he was having another break from reality.

“Kawada-san – follow that rickshaw.”

“Yes, Akashi-san.”

Kawada-san slowed the car so that Akashi’s window was next to Midorima Shintarō. Akashi rubbed at his left eye just to be sure, but he was correct – Takao Kazunari was laughing as he sat in the back, eating an apple and occasionally tickling his driver. Shintarō turned back to shout something at Takao, then snatched the apple out of his hands. 

When they stopped at a traffic light, Akashi rolled down the window and waved. “Good afternoon, Midorima. Takao, good afternoon.”

If the bicycle weren’t stabilized by the attached cart, Shintarō would’ve fallen clean over and cracked his head. As it was, he wobbled and clutched at his chest. Takao looked over, his eyes popping out of his head once he recognized Akashi.

After regaining his balance on the seat, Shintarō adjusted his glasses and said, as if noticing him casually, “Akashi.”

The traffic light turned green, and Kawada-san pulled the car over to a side street and parked. Akashi opened the door and stepped out to continue talking; Shintarō swung a long leg over the seat of the bicycle and stood to his full height, holding the half-eaten apple in his bandaged left hand. 

“What are you doing here? Was he following us?” Takao looked to Akashi and back to Shintarō. Akashi laughed and watched the interaction. Takao really had a lot of energy about him.

“Not at all. To be frank, I’m running the most eccentric sort of errand, and happened to be in this part of town.” Akashi glanced at the half-eaten apple, then looked at Shintarō’s face, his fine cheeks and jawline shining with sweat. “How is it that you ended up pedaling, Midorima?”

Shintarō’s lips pursed for a moment before he looked away. “Cancer is ranked twelfth today.”

Akashi nodded, and Takao giggled. 

“Everyone just accepts it!” Takao said in between giggles. Akashi, curious, met his gaze, which made Takao laugh harder.

“If you react, you will only make him louder nanodayo.” Shintarō sighed and checked his watch. “My evening routine has already been delayed irrevocably. Why are _you_ here nanodayo?” 

Akashi frowned. “I’m sorry to delay your routine. As recompense, I can offer you a ride – as long as you don’t mind one stop on our way.”

“Ooh, where are we stopping?” Takao chimed.

 

~~~

 

Shintarō refused to get out when they pulled up next to the hostess club, but Takao nearly did a cartwheel out of the car when he heard the music blasting out of the door. Akashi watched the springing legs of Shūtoku’s starter point guard and turned back to Shintarō to meet his eyes.

“Shin-chan! Come on! We never go out dancing, and you said we would now that the Winter Cup practices are over.”

“You shouldn’t make up so many stories, Takao.” Shintarō remained seated, his left hand cradling the apple, his right gripping his seat belt. Akashi turned back to watch Takao’s hips and stomach roll with the beat. He had rhythm. Style. Emotion. And sex appeal. Akashi nodded. He also noted that suddenly Shintarō was looming over him.

“What are you _looking_ at nanodayo?”

“Now this is unexpected…” Akashi crossed his arms, smiling. He inclined his head and turned to look over his shoulder with one eye at Shintarō, who blushed.

“I think it proper to explain – ”

Akashi chuckled. “All will become clear shortly. Takao?”

Takao looked over at them. “What?”

“How would you like to go dancing?” Akashi smiled.

 

~~~

 

“…Midorima was less than pleased at the concept, but, thankfully, he’s not the, ah…prime mover in the relationship.” Akashi sounded like he was trying not to snicker.

Kagami turned to look at Kuroko, who rubbed at his mouth.

“Amusement aside, though, I’ve instructed Takao to send a video audition to you shortly. I assume you have Snapchat on your phone?” Akashi certainly still sounded amused.

“Oh, uh, no.” Kagami rubbed at his neck. “It’s free, right?”

“Ah, yes. You should download it immediately so that I can send your identification to Takao.”

Kagami didn’t really like being commanded to download a phone app, but he sighed and went to install it on his phone. When it prompted him for a name, he frowned.

“Should I have a fancy name or something, Akashi?”

Akashi chuckled. “It doesn’t really matter.”

Kagami shrugged and typed kagamihoops10, hit enter, and said, “I’ve got it. I’ll text it to you.”

“Thank you, Kagami-san. I’m very pleased with what I’ve found in Takao. And, though this is a fact that should be quite obvious, I’m hopeful you’ll notice the same things I did.”

Kagami blinked, then shook his head. “Heh. Yeah, me too. We need some serious help right now.”

“I agree. If you don’t mind, please text me your thoughts after Takao’s audition. Goodbye for now.”

“See ya later, Akashi.” Kagami hung up his phone, texted his Snapchat to Akashi, and sighed, looking to Kuroko. Kuroko met his gaze.

“Kuroko…” Kagami sighed.

“I think Akashi’s gone off the deep end again!”

Kuroko sighed as well.

“What’s this shit about Takao? I know he’s, kinda, peppy or something, but a _shorty?_ ” Kagami put his hand to his forehead and groaned. “Tatsuya was right. I’m gonna regret this.”

Kuroko held up a palm. “You may be right. I’ll reserve my final judgment until we watch the audition.”

Kagami let his shoulders drop, feeling like he was seriously never going to be able to show his face in public after this Sunday.

“But remember that Akashi saw something in _me_ that no one else did.”

Kagami’s heart skipped. Then he felt a little light in his feet and head.

Kuroko offered his fist with a small smile. “We shouldn’t give up until we’re done dancing, anyway. That’s the only sure way to lose, after all.”

How many times would Kagami need to hear this? He gave Kuroko the fist bump, glad to have him. Smiling, Kagami nodded.

“Thanks, Kuroko. You’re right.” Kagami let out breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding in.

“And isn’t Kagami-kun always the one who wants a greater challenge?” Kuroko’s smile was wider this time. Kagami let his grow wide too. His phone buzzed, and the two of them stopped as Kagami saw he had a new Snapchat.

“Uh. Do you know how Snapchat works, Kuroko?”

“Yes.” Kuroko took Kagami’s phone and opened the Snapchat. They were greeted by a very close shot of Midorima’s face.

“Shin-chan, I’m not ready yet!” That was Takao’s voice.

Midorima rolled his eyes. “Fool. I told you I was recording now.”

“Give me my phone!”

“Takao!”

Midorima shook around, and the snap ended. Kuroko and Kagami looked at each other for a moment in silence.

Turning back to look at the phone, Kuroko said, “I don’t think Midorima-kun knows how to switch the cameras.”

Kagami had to laugh at that. Another snap came in, and he stopped laughing to watch. Kuroko opened it, and they were greeted by the beats of an electronic song Kagami didn’t recognize. Takao, dressed in jean cut-offs, a tank top, and a red headband, slapped his hands to his bare thighs and _gyrated_.

“Takao!” Midorima sputtered. The snap ended. Kagami had to take a breather. Even a few seconds of seeing Takao work his hips like that was…weird. Probably because he really was…really, very good…and…on beat, too…

“I don’t think Akashi-kun has gone off the deep end.”

Kagami agreed in his head, but he still needed a moment to process things before he nodded. “Yeah, uh, no, he’s right. This…may actually…work.”

Another snap came in. Kagami almost wanted not to open it. Kuroko opened it anyway to reveal Takao grinning widely at the camera, his arm around Midorima’s neck. Midorima wore a dark scowl, and glare from a ceiling light reflected off much of his glasses.

Below their faces, text read, “How do I look? ^_^ Sexy enough for ya ;)”

Kagami then realized he had to respond. “Kuroko! Do you have Takao’s number so we can text him back?”

Kuroko pointed at the name in the window, hawkeye1. “We can just send Takao-kun and Midorima-kun a snap.”

“Oh.” Kagami nodded. “Uh. What do we do?”

Kuroko smiled briefly and held up Kagami’s phone so that the front-facing camera had them both in frame. “Smile, Kagami-kun.”

 

~~~

 

_hey akashi takao’s gud – he needs 2 practice tho – were gonna meet friday_ _after basuke to work on a routine_

_I suspected as much. Hayama does as well. Perhaps a joint practice is in order?_

_sure wutever_

_o wait hows ur piece coming?_

_Let’s just say that I would have suggested a joint practice regardless of Hayama’s talent._


	5. A Good Warm-Up

With Eric B.’s pumping beats and Rakim’s smooth tones, Kagami’s feet flowed and planted suddenly – he pounced up and thrust his legs back, flattening himself out in the air.

“Whoa, be careful!” That was Takao’s voice; Kagami held his arms out and readied his hands and caught himself, letting his wrists buckle, then elbows and shoulders, so that he landed on his curving chest to fish-flop to his hips, feeling as little impact as possible. Kuroko clapped as Kagami rose to his feet.

“Just warming up.” Kagami grinned. Takao put his duffel bag down and clapped as well. Kagami noticed that Midorima was here too, though the stiff, tall boy remained silent, holding a hula-dancer car ornament.

“Do I get to do that move?” Takao raised an eyebrow. Kagami shrugged.

“If you can pull it off. I’ll teach it to you if we have time, anyhow. But let’s work on your steps first, okay?”

Takao grinned. “You got it, Kagami-sensei.”

Kagami blinked. “Uh, I didn’t mean…”

Takao laughed. “Aw, it’s okay! I think it’s funny. So, show me how to dance like the Americans!”

 

~~~

 

Kagami knew that teaching Takao would be…different…but…

“Alright, I think you’ve got the crossover good now – but you’ve got to work your, uh…your ass more.”

“This is great!” Takao snapped his fingers and wiggled his hips. As Missy Eliot rapped, he repeated the footwork, sliding from the balls of his feet to his heels and switching his thighs over one another; this time, however, he paused in the middle, planting his right heel and the toes of his left foot to cock his hips and arch his back.

“Yeah! That’s…uh…” Kagami blushed.

Takao looked over his shoulder and under his lashes at Kagami. “Yes?”

“This is absurd.” Midorima grumbled. “I can’t believe Akashi is further disgracing us all with his demands nanodayo.”

“It is indeed unfortunate. Takao, I owe you a favor.” Akashi said as he entered. Everyone turned to look at him. Midorima turned red.

Akashi bowed to Kagami before looking Takao up and down. “Good afternoon, Kagami-san. Takao, it seems like you’re learning quickly.”

Kagami cleared his throat, “Uh, yeah, he has a good eye.” Thank goodness Izuki-senpai wasn’t here to say something else.

Akashi smiled. “Well, I apologize for my interruption. Hayama will be in shortly; I believe he wanted to buy a sports drink.”

“Alright. Well…” Kagami turned back to Takao. “Honestly, I think you have it so far. So, we can go to downrock and power moves now if you think you’re ready.”

Takao’s eyes lit up. “Oh, you weren’t kidding?”

“Uh…no?” Kagami tilted his head.

Takao laughed, waving his hand. “Sorry! No, I really was going to enjoy myself even if all I was going to do was shake my butt. I like to dance!”

Kagami grinned awkwardly, unsure of what to say.

Takao stopped laughing, though his smile remained. “But I got the impression that I – or ‘the shorty’ – wasn’t being taken seriously. You know?”

Kagami blinked, “Wait – you thought – I didn’t mean to –”

Takao’s eyes narrowed as his smile sharpened. “Yeah. I know what you meant. Like you said: let’s do it.”

Kagami blew out a breath and then shrugged. “Alright, but you might hate me for what I’m gonna make you do…”

Takao lifted an eyebrow. “Oh, yeah? Try me.”

 

~~~

 

Kagami nodded as Takao held himself on one hand, his hips twisting as his feet kicked, turning his knees to face the ceiling, then down to the ground. Kagami had picked Missy Elliott for this kind of dancing, but for some reason…he just wasn’t feeling it…

“Faster – and keep, you know, popping your butt and stuff.”

Takao stopped and sat down to laugh. “Is booty-popping the only sexy move you know, Kagami-sensei?”

“What?” Kagami blushed and turned to look at Kuroko, who was texting. Akashi and Hayama were stretching.

“There’s so much more I can do from down here!” Takao put himself back on one hand, dug his heels in, and thrust his hips up into a back arch, making eye contact with Kagami before winking. He kicked his right leg over his left, crossed them as if seated, and unwound himself.

“Uh.” Kagami scratched his head. “Yeah, that’s a, uh, a good one too.”

Takao grinned. “You sure know the steps! But I’m glad _I’ve_ got something to add onto this…”

“If we may be so rude as to interrupt…” Akashi walked into Kagami’s field of view as he spoke, watching the two of them with interest. Hayama came bouncing up behind him.

“Me and Akashi need to learn some _real_ moves!” He pumped his fists for effect. Kagami grinned.

“Okay, well, since Takao’s already adding his own flavor to footwork…let’s do some power moves.”

Kagami stepped a few times to get some momentum, then tossed himself into a windmill, bracing his elbows into his stomach as he rotated on his back so that they would catch him as he turned over. His whirling legs kept him going, and with so much momentum, Kagami felt as free as he did when he leaped from the free throw line…

He spun to a stop and, rising up to one knee, said, “That’s a windmill – basic stuff. But if you get this one, you’ll get a feel for how important it is to keep moving.”

Hayama laughed, dropping onto a shoulder – from standing – and windmilling even faster than Kagami had. “I thought we were going to do something _hard!_ Akashi already made me learn this and a bunch of other things.”

Kagami grinned as Hayama popped up onto his palms so that he stalled out, his legs sweeping out to his right – he looked like he was reclining on one hip, but in midair. Hayama tossed a smile to no one in particular and pulled his hips back through his braced arms, arching his back as his heels planted…and then his knees buckled and he sank to the ground, spinning around his left heel to extend his right leg.

It was an easy transition to a six-step then – Hayama kicked his heels around his ankles as he turned his hips and chest, supporting himself on his hands. 

“Whoa, Hayama can _dance!_ ” Takao clapped. “The Lightning Beast’s natural speed and hand strength really converts well.”

Hayama’s grin grew wider at that, and he popped up to stand with his fists on his hips.

“I didn’t know I had it in me!” He laughed. “But you can thank Akashi.”

Kagami turned to look at Akashi, who was smiling as he watched, his fist supporting his chin. His eyes flickered over to meet Kagami’s gaze, and though Akashi’s expression and body did not move, Kagami suddenly felt uneasy.

Turning back to grin at Hayama, Kagami said, “Yeah, Hayama, you’ve seriously got some moves. And you were on beat, too!”

Hayama shrugged. “It’s a good song. This is American music, right?”

Kagami nodded. “Yeah, it’s Missy Elliott…huh, I hadn’t thought about it, but we do need to get everybody a song…”

“I want this one!” Hayama’s hand shot up, as if he were in class. Kagami grinned.

“This one’s good, yeah, but I bet there’s an even better one for you if we listen more. But…” Kagami looked at Akashi and Takao. “We have to find songs for Akashi and Takao too.”

Takao grinned. “Well, what kinds of songs do shorties usually dance to?”

Akashi turned to examine Takao from head to toe; Kagami blushed and scratched his neck. “Uh, I dunno, like…”

Takao laughed. “Don’t say ‘something sexy,’ Kagami-sensei.” Waving his hand, he continued, “I really like to groove to Janet Jackson, if that helps.”

That...made sense. Kagami decided to accept it and move on. “Sure, Janet’s good for dancing. She’s old-school.”

No one said anything in reply, so Kagami added, “Old-school is also a good thing…just so everyone knows.”

Akashi nodded, looking off into the middle distance, apparently deep in thought. Hayama was leaning forward and backward, as if preparing to spring. Takao had his hands on his hips. Kagami sighed. Was Akashi paying attention?

“Hey, Akashi!”

Akashi blinked and turned to look at him. “Yes?”

Kagami crossed his arms and grinned. “What kind of music should we play for you?

Akashi gave him a small smile. “I don’t think Tchaikovsky’s Eighteen-twelve Overture would be good for this kind of dancing.”

Kagami knew it was supposed to be a joke, but Akashi had said it quietly, and it seemed like he was more dissing himself than anything else. Unsure how to reply, Kagami shrugged. “Hey, if you want me to pick, that’s fine…" 

Akashi nodded. “You are the expert.”

Hayama groaned. “Come on, Akashi! Your ‘Brainwasher’ piece was looking great yesterday!”

Akashi tensed immediately, and twisted his body slowly to gaze at Hayama. Kagami couldn’t see Akashi’s expression, but it was clear from Hayama’s frown that he wasn’t happy with the look he was receiving.

Kagami decided to take some attention off of Hayama, and said, “So, uh, you like Daft Punk, then?”

Akashi continued to look at Hayama for a moment, then unwound himself so he was facing Kagami again. His scarlet eyes held a wide, electrifying tension. “From time to time.”

This was starting to get familiar in a really bad way. “Look, this is supposed to be fun.” Kagami crossed his arms and stuck his chin up a bit. Akashi watched his arms move, then studied his face. 

Rolling his eyes, Kagami continued, “We’re not gonna get anywhere if you don’t loosen up out there and show them what you’re made of, okay?”

Akashi raised an eyebrow. “I’m not sure it would be proper to show just anyone what I’m ‘made of.’” 

Kagami had the sense that Akashi wasn’t talking about the same thing Kagami was. But then it hit him. “Well…why don’t you show us your piece, then?”

Akashi still looked like he was a thin piece of wood that was bent to its breaking point. But after a moment, he took in a breath and shook his head. “You know, I think you might be right about this. Besides, a little exercise will almost certainly clear my head.”

Kagami went over to his computer to search for Akashi’s song, and looked up when he’d found it. Akashi had his eyes closed.

“Uh, are you ready?”

Akashi nodded, and Kagami hit play. Akashi was still for a moment, standing, as if waiting for something. But once the song said, “I am the Brainwasher” for the second time, Akashi began to move.

His fingers warped into claws, and he bent his wrists back. The bending moved to his elbows, which coiled behind his back, and once the downbeat hit on the main riff of the song, Akashi unwound them all at once and sprang backwards, throwing his legs out into an impressive aerial side-splits.

His left leg came in to catch him, and with the rolling beat pulling him onwards, Akashi let himself wind down, down to the floor, his right leg extending back in the arabesque he’d shown the first time he’d danced – but it was pretty cool this time…

He whipped his right leg around to his front and used its momentum to spin on his left heel. After a single turn he rose, continuing to spin as he came up. His arms extended out, and, though he was still curling his wrists in true ballet form, Kagami had to admit that he looked more like a tornado than a frou-frou dude in tights.

Akashi closed his eyes and let out a sharp breath, raising a hand to his forehead. “It’s rough, and not even finished at that.” 

Takao jumped in before Kagami could say anything. “That wasn’t like anything I’ve seen – you put ballet into electronic – and the precision that comes with the Emperor Eye made it all flow as easily as the rest of your play!”

“That may be a little generous.” Akashi still smiled underneath his hand.

Hayama growled and turned to Kagami, waving his arms. “I’ve been listening to this for three days now! Is it possible to make him like his dancing or not?”

Kagami chuckled, and tilted his head to grin at Akashi. “Not everybody has the skill to pull off moves like that. Even I can’t do the splits.”

Akashi eyed him, and then shrugged. “It’s really a matter of practice.”

Kagami turned to meet Hayama’s gaze. Hayama let out a sigh that might’ve dwarfed Murasakibara. Kagami shook his head and said, “But you’re right, Akashi. It’s not finished. More than needing some extra moves, you’ve gotta believe that you’ve got it.”

Akashi narrowed his eyes for a moment.

“You know.” Kagami shrugged, and imitated Akashi’s wrist-and-elbow pop-locking, but threw some chest rolls and hip thrusts in for good measure. Akashi blinked as if slapped.

“You’re telling me I just need to add some – ”

Takao began to laugh, holding his stomach and hips. “That’s not what Kagami-sensei means! Even if he did literally tell _me_ to do that.”

Hayama nodded. “He wants you to trust in yourself! Like we do.”

Kagami blushed, and opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by: 

“Akashi-kun once told me that one should know one’s limits, and play, knowing them.”

Kuroko? Kagami turned to look at him. Kuroko was sitting on the bleachers, his homework momentarily put aside. A fierce look animated his eyes and cheeks.

“But you can’t be afraid to continue dancing just because you are afraid of your limitations.” Kuroko shook his head. “ _That_ is the surest way to defeat.”

Kagami grinned. Kuroko always knew what to say when it was time to get someone fired up. To Kuroko’s left, Midorima cleared his throat, blushing furiously.

“And besides,” Midorima said, the hesitation in his voice vanishing as he continued, “this routine shows marked improvement from your elementary school choreography.”

He pushed up his glasses and returned to his own homework as Takao burst out laughing. “Shin-chan, did you go to all of his recitals?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact.” Akashi’s voice made Kagami turn around. Akashi was looking down, a hand on his hip – despite the worn and tired expression around his eyes, a small smile played across his lips.

“He used to ask me when the next one would be, when we’d meet afterwards.” 

“This nonsense has gone on long enough nanodayo.” Midorima stood up, scattering math papers into the air. A pencil rolled down the bleachers. “We’re leaving, Takao.”

Kagami didn’t think Takao could hear Midorima over the sound of his own laughter. Regardless, Midorima snatched at his homework and stuffed his satchel full, picked his pencil up off the ground, and strode down the bleachers to stand between Akashi and Takao.

“Akashi.” Midorima inclined his head. He nudged at Takao with his elbow. Takao rubbed at his eyes and looked to Kagami.

“Uhe-hee, should I practice more or something?”

Kagami nodded. “You should find a good song first. But then just have some fun with it, you know?”

Takao grinned. “I think I can manage that.”

He turned to follow Midorima out of the gym. Akashi checked his watch as they left. 

“Hm. It is already quite late…” His tired expression seemed to gain another layer of wear and tear over his forehead and eyes.

Hayama yawned. “Does that mean _we_ have to leave too?”

“Unless you have another way of getting home,” Akashi shrugged, “I’m afraid so.”

Hayama grumbled and crossed his arms. “Ugh, Akashi! Everybody got to practice but me. Why can’t I have some practice time with Kagami-sensei?”

Kagami scratched his neck. “Uh, just so you know, you don’t have to call me that…”

Akashi checked his watch again, and, with a smile and a sigh, let his hand and watch fall to his side. “My apologies, Hayama. You’re right. I’m being rude.”

Hayama grinned and stretched his arms out, fixing his eyes on Kagami. “Alright, Kagami-sensei – what’s on the menu?” 

Kagami took a moment to think about it. Hayama was pretty good already – his athletic talent and training gave him a serious edge in general, but it was clear he also had a talent for dancing, too. In that case, the lesson should be a little more high energy. Kagami grinned and put his music on shuffle.

“It’s you and me, Hayama. Let’s battle.” 

Hayama’s eyes widened for a moment, but then his smile caught up. “Seriously? Alright! How does it work?”

“It’s pretty simple, really,” Kagami said, beginning with a two-step. “I’ll start, since I picked the song. If you think you can outdo me, jump in and try to steal the groove whenever you think you can.”

It was Biggie rapping, which wasn’t Kagami’s favorite for breaking usually, but it was working today – Kagami pretended to slip on his second step of the two step and dropped down to his heels, holding himself on his hands as he kicked his legs out and spun into a six-step. Hayama was nodding along with the music, and Akashi was watching even more closely.

When Kagami brought his legs back in to crouch, he used all his power to hurl himself up into a backflip, tossing his legs out so that he appeared to hang in the air. This move was usually a crowd stunner, and Hayama laughed – and immediately following his laugh, he stepped forward.

“Like this?”

Kagami shrugged, crossing his arms to tilt his head with the beat. “Usually better to come in with a power move or some complex toprock so that you make an entrance.”

Hayama nodded, watched Kagami’s feet slide and kick, and then Hayama began his own toprock. He was much more springy, emphasizing movement in his thighs and chest when he stepped, swinging his arms and locking his wrists and elbows with the beats. Kagami usually went for a smoother approach – but it looked good on Hayama.

And when the downbeat came, Hayama did a backflip – imitating Kagami’s layout, but twisting his hips so that he turned to face the opposite direction as he came down. He tossed a raised eyebrow and grin over his shoulder after the trick, and Kagami got the message, feeling the flames of competition flaring in his chest.

Kagami chuckled as he slid his right leg forward, hooked it around his left, and spun all the way down as if drilling into the ground. He then hurled himself sideways and spun his hips at the same time, using his arms and feet to maintain the momentum such that he appeared to be rolling like a log, but in midair.

Hayama was still doing toprock, and responded with a big karate-style jumping kick which carried him over Kagami’s rolling flare. Hayama then flattened out so that he caught himself in the push-up position as he landed, and rose to his feet by planting his head and head-springing up to his heels. Kagami ended his flares with a sweep-kick and brought his leg in and jumped up, landing with his arms crossed.

Both Kuroko and Akashi clapped, and Hayama let out a big whoop and pumped his fist.

“That was so cool! You can really dance, Kagami!”

Kagami grinned. “You can bust a move too.”

Hayama let out a big breath. “Is it gonna be like that? When we dance on Sunday?”

Kagami shrugged. “It’s a good warm-up, anyway. It’s probably going to be a lot tougher.”

Both Akashi and Hayama gave him intent looks. They were looking at him like he was the coach or something. Kagami blushed and shrugged.

“What are you guys looking at me like that for? It’s not like I’m a pro! But if these guys got seriously dissed because Akashi served them back, then they’re probably _really_ good.”

Akashi nodded. “They did give that impression.”

Kagami looked at Akashi and sighed. “Which makes sense. Anyway, you said you should be going, so, you know, don’t hang out just because.”

Hayama held up a palm, and Kagami gave a resounding high five. They both broke out into smiles.

“Thanks for dancing, Kagami!” Hayama said as he and Akashi picked up their things. Kagami nodded, his smile feeling like the warm night outside.

“You bet. It’s always great to let loose like that.”

It was only after Kagami and Kuroko had parted ways on their own walk home that Kagami realized he had forgotten someone during their practice session – _Kise_. In a panic, he called Tatsuya, and was stunned when he didn’t go straight to voicemail.

“Hey, bro, whazzup?”

“Tatsuya – what’s going on with Kise?” Kagami tried not to sound worried, but…well, he was worried.

Tatsuya laughed. “Ah, I told you not to worry about it, right, Taiga? He’s in good hands, okay?”

Kagami sighed with relief. If Tatsuya had time to be condescending, he wasn’t stressed. “So, what’s the gig? What are you and he doing?”

“Hey, hey, it’s a secret.” Tatsuya chuckled again. “It’d ruin the surprise. I can’t spoil the dramatic entrance just two days before the big event…”

Kagami grumbled. Tatsuya _would_ want _his_ piece to be special. “Come on, bro, it’s not like I’m gonna tell anyone…”

“No way, Taiga – it’s between me and Kise. You’ll know really soon.” Tatsuya sounded like he had a big smile. “And, boy, will you love it.”

Kagami grumbled again, and Tatsuya laughed and said, “Hey, how’s our boy Akashi doing? Not too prissy, I hope…”

“He’s actually okay.” Kagami shrugged. “I hope he loosens up a bit. But he’s got the moves.”

Tatsuya snorted. “Nobody ever doubted the moves. It’s his attitude…”

Kagami rolled his eyes. “Well, yeah, but…”

Tatsuya chuckled. “Hey, sorry to be a bum, but it’s late and I still have an assignment – do you want me to call you back tomorrow?”

Kagami grinned. “Nah, it’s all good. Hey, thanks for helping us out.”

Tatsuya’s laugh was genuine. “Oh, Taiga, when this is all over, I might just have to thank _Akashi_.”


	6. The Crew of Miracles

On Saturday, Kagami kept meaning to think about the few breaking battles he and Tatsuya had gotten themselves into, but between practice, homework, and another paper for Japanese History (why did anyone care so much about what _he_ thought about the past?)…well, there wasn’t a lot of time to gather his thoughts.

It wasn’t until he had really settled into bed that things started to coalesce. He remembered the time when Tatsuya had gotten banned from the mall because he’d started a battle in the middle of the food court. That was a serious one too – a real five-on-five, since they’d been eating with the rest of their street ball team, who also liked to dance with Kagami and Tatsuya.

And Tatsuya had only gotten banned because he had stayed to win the battle, when everyone else had left except Kagami and one of their rivals... 

Kagami looked at the clock and saw that it was 11:45 – and since the battle was at midday, he really needed to get to sleep. He rolled over and let out a deep breath, closing his eyes and relaxing.

 _Akashi probably won’t be totally ready for the fast-paced style war_ , he thought, _but I can catch him up on that_.

When it came to style, Kagami felt he was really only second to Tatsuya – and by a hair. He wasn’t worried about himself. He just knew that Akashi might see the wrong things when he analyzed their rivals. But luckily a quick talk on strategy would stick with Akashi. That much he was certain about.

The nice thing about battles like these was that it was much more about emotion. Kagami was glad there wouldn’t be a scoreboard or a ref. Seriously glad – rather than get bogged down explaining the rules to Akashi, he could just focus on helping him win over the crowd. That would make things a lot more relaxed.

Speaking of relaxing – it couldn’t possibly be past midnight already?! Kagami scowled and punched the bed. This always happened! He was getting way too psyched about the competition. Alright, well, it was time to settle down…Kagami nodded and took in a deep breath in, let it out, and tried to feel as tired as he possibly could. He was a little nervous, after all. Sleep would erase all that.

But maybe if he was nervous, he should go work out or something.

“Nah, that’s a dumb idea…”

Kagami rolled over and stared at his clock. 01:26. Sheesh, it didn’t feel that late. He decided that since he didn’t feel too tired, he’d go do some stretches and then come back to bed.

But after what he was sure was just a half hour, the clock read 02:20. And Kagami actually was feeling kinda bad now…his eyes hurt a bit, and his body felt slow…

“Alright, now I’m definitely going to sleep.”

He really couldn’t stop thinking about the competition. And it wasn’t a bad thing – but he knew he had to sleep. Kagami decided enough was enough, and thought instead about the Winter Cup. He’d come a long way, from a kid who’d known only how to fight angrily to being a member of the best team in the league. He was proud to have put sweat, blood, and tears into that trophy that sat in the team room, and the medal in his kitchen.

And prouder still to have the senpai and his classmates shout his name when he sailed through the air, or to hear the crowd roar when he dunked or beat the defender…

And, he thought with an unfamiliar chill, even prouder to know that Kuroko believed in _him_ …

 

~~~

 

Kagami’s alarm was in the middle of playing the chorus of “Space Jam” when he awoke, and he jumped up. What time – the clock said 09:57 – he was kinda late…Kagami leaped out of his bed to make breakfast, running into the hallway to find that Alex was watching gyōza cook in his kitchen. At least she was wearing pants.

“Alex?! You could knock! Or tell me you were coming over?” This wasn’t exactly how he’d planned his morning…

Alex turned around with a grin. In English, she said, “Mornin’, Taiga! Rise and shine!”

Kagami tried to figure out what was going on, but then he turned the corner and saw that Tatsuya was also there, frying rice and chopping vegetables. “Tatsuya?!”

“Hey, bro!” Tatsuya nodded his head, unable to wave as he chopped and stirred the rice. “It’s your big day; you can’t be bothered to cook, right?”

Kagami let out his breath and realized he was seriously lucky. “You guys…” 

“Shoo! Git!” Alex was still speaking English. “Put some pants on!”

Kagami was about to shout something back, but he grinned and ran back to his room to grab clothes. But for a competition like this – casual wear just wouldn’t cut it. Kagami pushed his Japanese clothes aside in his closet to look at the clothes he’d bought in America. Yeah, those black jeans with the beat-up ankles would be good.

“Food!” It was Tatsuya. Kagami pulled the jeans out of his closet and jumped into them as he jogged back to the kitchen. Fried rice with spring vegetables and fresh gyōza! He couldn’t have thought of a better breakfast himself…

“Thank you!” Kagami said as he speared a gyōza with a chopstick and shoved it in his mouth. Tatsuya’s gyōza were heavier on cilantro and garlic – Thai style – as opposed to Kagami’s more traditional vinegar-and-soy sauce, but they were no less delicious.  And the fried rice and vegetables were perfectly done too...

“Tatsuya really can cook, can’t he?” Alex said, speaking Japanese now as she sat down with her own plate. Tatsuya was finishing up cleaning the kitchen, but Kagami saw the smile on his face as he turned to hang up a pan.

“Yeah, he’s got skills all over the place,” Kagami said around his mouthful of food.

“Hey, mouth closed, Taiga.” Alex swatted at him with a chopstick and a smile. Kagami grumbled and continued to shovel in food. He was seriously hungry. And stoked for the upcoming dancing. Despite how far as he’d come in basketball, he was still a bit nervous about _this_. The team was untested, after all… 

Tatsuya sat down with his own plate of food. “Ah, Alex, you know Taiga. He’s got the skills where it counts, but not when it comes to manners or things like that.” 

Kagami glared at him, and Alex swatted at Tatsuya as well. “You be nice to your brother, Tatsuya.”

Tatsuya ducked the chopstick, laughing. “ _I_ thought I was being pretty charitable…”

Kagami and Alex shared a look as Tatsuya began to eat, still grinning. It was always like this…

“You must be excited, Taiga.” Tatsuya was serious now. Kagami nodded, finishing what was left of the fried rice and rising for a second serving. 

“It’s been a while, but…it feels as familiar as it ever was.” Kagami grinned as he pulled half the remaining gyōza onto his plate, scooped a hunk of fried rice to go with them, and snatched a bunch of veggies too.

“You boys have some serious talent.” Alex chuckled as she finished her vegetables and moved through the gyōza, her gaze looking further down than her food. Kagami and Tatsuya met eyes for a moment – Alex sounded a little wistful, and that was…sometimes not good.

“Ah, I’ll be glad to watch you win, Taiga!” She snatched up a gyōza and began to eat, and Tatsuya shrugged, and Kagami nodded.

“Yeah! It’ll be a great show all over, trust me.” He looked at Tatsuya. “Although – Tatsuya still won’t tell me what he’s done with Kise.”

Alex looked over at Tatsuya, who gave them both his best toothy smile. “I can’t, you guys. It’ll spoil all the fun!”

Kagami was getting full, and checked his phone: 10:30. He made to stand, then realized it would be maybe rude…

“No, don’t worry, Taiga – you have to get going!” Alex waved him on. Kagami nodded and left his plate on the table to run into his room. What shirt would be good? He liked the tank-top with the orange sun rising over the palm tree…but he’d probably tear his shoulders up if he windmilled with that on. Nope. Sleeves were necessary. 

How about the red long-sleeve t-shirt that said, “L.A. ORIGINAL” in gold script? Kagami nodded. That could work. He pulled it out of his dresser and tossed it on the bed. Was there another shirt that might be a better fit?

“You’re stressing about the shirt, aren’t you?” Tatsuya was leaning in the doorway. Kagami gave him a raised eyebrow. Tatsuya laughed.

“That one you’ve picked is the right one – but it’s the accessories that’ll make it perfect.” Tatsuya pulled out two bandanas, one white, one black, and handed them to Kagami. “These should jump-start your memory.”

Kagami grinned. He put the bandanas down and pulled his shirt on. When he reached for the bandanas again, Tatsuya had already taken the white one, and was folding it into a triangle. Kagami did the same with the black one. When he had finished, he tied it around his elbow so that the apex of the triangle aligned with his tricep, accentuating his elbow and arm.

Tatsuya knelt to tie the white one around the lowest part of Kagami’s thigh, such that the apex of this triangle hung over Kagami’s knee.

“And…I was gonna suggest a different chain…” Tatsuya stood up to look him over, hands on hips, “But…you know, it would probably be too flashy. The ring looks great.”

Alex stepped in and clapped her hands. “Hey, champ!”

Kagami looked away and scratched at his neck. “Uh, I gotta go now, you know…”

“Oh – are you gonna do headspins?” Tatsuya asked, opening Kagami’s dresser. “You might want a cap or something.”

“Yeah – good idea. Thanks,” Kagami said, grinning. Tatsuya tossed him a charcoal-grey beanie cap from the drawer. 

“Get a move on, Taiga!” 

Kagami grinned, grabbed his water bottle from his nightstand, and ran out into the kitchen to fill it. His computer was still on the sofa, so he grabbed that after leaving the kitchen and put both the water and the computer in his sports bag.

“Hey, Tatsuya – did you bring your boom box?” Kagami was seriously hoping he had.

Tatsuya nodded as he came out into the main room. “Wouldn’t forget _that_ , not now, not ever.”

Kagami grinned, and opened his door to run for the metro.

 

~~~

 

It was awesome of Tatsuya and Alex to speed up his morning, because when Kagami jogged off the train and checked his phone, it was almost twelve. Thankfully, the “appointed meeting place” (Akashi’s words) was the underside of this metro bridge, so Kagami simply hustled down the stairs and turned around the corner.

There was already a crowd gathered in the grass growing underneath the bridge, and from the sounds of music and cheers emanating from the center, someone was dancing. Kagami recognized a few people – that had to be the back of Kaijo’s Kasamatsu, and with him Moriyama – and Kagami was pretty sure the really tall guy over there was Ōtsubo…wait, were all three of the Shūtoku senior regulars here…?

And there was Hyūga-senpai! With him was Coach, and – everyone else –Koganei-senpai, Mitobe-senpai, Tsuchida-senpai and his girlfriend, and Furihata, Kawahara, and Fukuda! Only Kiyoshi-senpai, still at physical therapy, was missing…Kagami went to go say hi, but before he could –

“Kagami! Over here!” Hayama’s voice snatched his attention. Kagami turned and saw him waving over near one of the struts of the bridge. He looked good in white joggers with a black stripe and a black t-shirt. When Kagami came over, he saw that Akashi was also there, stretching as he listened to music through earbuds.

His outfit was infuriatingly cool: a short grey herringbone scarf around his neck, a blue scoop-necked tank-top that revealed his collarbones, a grey hoodie with three-quarter-length sleeves, and fingerless black gloves. And he was wearing distressed grey skinny jeans. Kagami kind of wanted to shake him. Akashi looked up from his stretching, and Kagami saw something…quiver in his eyes.

“Kise isn’t here yet.” Hayama shrugged. “But Himuro-san texted Akashi to say he planned it this way to make a big entrance.”

Kagami was about to say something really annoyed, but then just shrugged as well. “You know, Tatsuya knows what he’s talking about.”

“I hope so.” That was Takao – Kagami hadn’t noticed him, and considering he was wearing those jean cut-offs that revealed essentially all of his thighs…Kagami had no idea how he hadn’t noticed…

“We’re in trouble if Himuro-san is wrong.” Takao continued. He brushed at his feathery bangs, though they were already kept out of the way by his bright red headband. His dark orange tank-top showed off his chiseled chest, shoulders, and arms.

“Hey.” Kagami realized everyone was nervous, and he was the only one who knew what he was doing. It was time to stop all that.

“Don’t worry about Kise, first off. That guy learned how to windmill by watching a video.”

This made Akashi smile.

“And second, this competition is about showing off the groove inside you. I know this is everybody’s first time, but this is one time where experience might matter a lot less.”

“Really?” Hayama’s eyes lit up.

Kagami grinned. “Yeah! So, don’t worry if you feel like a buster for not knowing anything, because we haven’t had a whole lot of time and they’re probably a lot better than us because they’re pros!”

“That…was not inspiring…” Takao didn’t seem to be able to choose between amusement and disappointment. Akashi rose from his stretches and took his earbuds out of his ears.

“Kagami-san is right. We have all seen how easy it is to let the music flow through us. As in basketball, let’s keep our eyes on what’s in front of us, and enjoy the moment at hand.”

Kagami didn’t think that was what he had said, but the others nodded and smiled fiercely. So he did too, and they walked over to where the crowd had gathered. 

It was a much larger crowd now – full of cheers, murmurs, expectant talk – Kagami had no idea that breaking was so much of a phenomenon in Japan…but he’d thought so of basketball, too…

He turned to Akashi. “Did you think so many people would be watching? Where’d this crowd come from?”

And at this, Akashi smiled faintly. “Where, indeed?”

But the moment was interrupted. “Kagami-kun!”

It was Kuroko’s voice – Kagami turned and saw him running…what was he wearing – blue shutter-shades, a way-too-big _Teiko_ _jersey_ (the number five) which looked like a dress on him, and a glittering gold chain swinging to and fro around his neck. He held Tatsuya’s bulky boom-box on his shoulder, using both hands to steady it.

When he reached them, out of breath, he set the boom-box down carefully – it seemed to be way too heavy for him. Kagami finally got a good look at the chain, which said, in English, “SWAG.”

As if noticing his gaze, Kuroko said, “Himuro-san told me to dress like a rapper. I Googled images of rappers.”

“Did you…just…buy that chain?” Kagami couldn’t decide between shock and amusement.

Kuroko smiled. “No. I borrowed this and the sunglasses from Aomine-kun.”

“Hey – they’re finally here!” That was a girl’s voice. People shuffled aside to reveal a girl in a bright purple hoodie and white jeans. She pointed to Kagami and turned her hand over to beckon with the same finger. 

“Where’s Uptight-san?” She shrugged. “We want him first.”

Akashi stepped forward. “My name is Akashi Seijūro, if you please.”

Kagami blinked. It probably was for the best that Akashi go first – he was the one challenged, after all – but he wasn’t exactly playing it cool.

“Hey, Akashi.” Kagami put a hand on his shoulder. Akashi stopped and turned to look at him. Kagami saw that same fragile movement in his eyes. What was up with him?

“You’ve got the moves. Now you just need to light them on fire.”

That actually seemed to make immediate sense to Akashi, which was surprising. It had seemed as though Akashi usually needed to interpret things himself before he liked them. Well, Kagami watched him stride through the crowd – this was it.

Thankfully, the other team had already set up a large, flattened cardboard dance floor on the grass; Kagami realized he hadn’t thought to bring anything like that at all. He turned to Kuroko.

“Did Tatsuya give you a CD or anything?”

“Yes – there’s a disk with everyone’s songs already in it. Should I play Akashi’s song?” Kuroko watched Kagami’s face, then turned to look at Akashi. Kagami looked at Akashi as well. In the center of the crowd, with the other team in a ring around him, he looked as small as he did hunched on the bench with heterochromic eyes.

“When he’s ready.” Kagami shouldered his way through the crowd, making a path for Kuroko and the boom box. Finally, they were both standing next to Akashi.

“You ready, Akashi?”

Akashi looked up at him. “Let’s do this.”

Kagami grinned, hoping it was excitement that made Akashi solemn. He stepped out of the way and into the ring of people; Kuroko followed his lead and hit play on the boom box, suffusing the noise of the crowd with Daft Punk.

The noise of talking was replaced by the weight of all the eyes on Akashi; even though Kagami wasn’t in the center, he could feel the sheer force of the attention. Akashi’s eyes were closed.

They remained closed as his hands snapped into claws, his wrists bent as if to break, and his elbows contorted all the way to his shoulders. As the riff continued, Akashi’s eyes snapped open as his arms sprang forward, launching his entire body, it seemed, into the air. His legs swung into a side-splits that several people dodged, despite the few feet of room they had between themselves and Akashi’s feet. The gasps from having to dodge this turned into applause. Kagami could tell he’d been seriously practicing.

Akashi landed on a single foot, a momentary arabesque that looked like he was dangling more than truly balancing – an effect exacerbated once his knee buckled and he sent his back leg forward, falling to his back and rolling over his shoulder blades into a crisp headstand that he pushed up off of, as light on his hands as he was on his feet.

“So you’re classically trained too.”

Kagami turned to see the girl in the purple hoodie step in. She leaped in and spun, a leg-scissoring tour jêté that nearly kicked Akashi in the face as she breezed by him. She landed in an arabesque that mocked Akashi’s own, spinning as slowly as a doll in a music box while she sank to a one-legged crouch, her back leg still extended.

“But boy, you need to loosen up!”

Kagami winced. She turned a six-step into a forward roll that sprang up into a stag-leap, her legs nearly in front-splits. Akashi attempted to continue his choreography in response, but his moves looked stilted next to hers. It was clear from his steps that he was following a routine – but she…her dynamic rolls, handsprings, and leaps were spur-of-the-moment. It didn’t compare.

Kagami shouted, “Akashi, you have to improvise!”

Kuroko looked at Kagami, then back to Akashi. Akashi’s face was taking a pained expression – eyes narrowed, forehead tensed…and he was already sweaty. The girl in the hoodie did a front somersault over him as he tried to convert to downrock, and when she landed in a crouch, her arms crossed and a big smirk on her face, the crowd cheered.

Four people stepped out of the crowd then – a girl in a bikini top, short-shorts and knee socks: a really big guy in a blue track suit; a guy with a well-kept moustache and an unbuttoned button-down shirt; and a guy dressed much like Kagami – jeans, long sleeve shirt, although he wore a red jacket to accent.

The girl in the bikini top yelled “Served!”

“Yeah, Uptight-san, you got served!” came the agreeing chorus of boys’ voices.

“Is that all you got?” The girl in the purple hoodie tossed her head back, her short hair shining in the sunlight.

Akashi looked at the five of them, his face blank, and Kagami stepped out to stand with him.

“We’re just warming up.” Kagami crossed his arms and thrust his chin out. Hayama jumped in on Akashi’s other side, and Takao with him.

“Ooh, big maaaan!” Purple-hoodie said. Her crew laughed and stepped back, leaving the really big guy in blue out alone. He had a boom box on his shoulder that was so old, it still had a tape deck. He pressed the play button, and Run-DMC started up.

His steps were crisp, and even though Kagami knew not to underestimate his opponent, it was amazing to see a guy with a big belly turn a flashy one-hand cartwheel – especially while holding a boom box! The crowd oohed and aahed.

“Akashi, what happened?” Hayama hissed. Akashi looked away, his expression still utterly unreadable. Kagami knew exactly what happened, and put his hand on Akashi’s shoulder. Akashi almost jumped, then.

Kagami sighed. “It’s nothing. It happens to everyone. We’ll get another chance.” 

Akashi looked up at him, his eyes flashing. Was he angry? “You don’t understand. Another chance won’t change…what’s inside of me.”

What? “Hey, take it easy, Akashi.”

Akashi scowled. “That’s the entire problem. If I take it easy, I might…”

Kagami blinked. There was a lot going on right now…Hayama pushed Kagami aside. “Hang on, Kagami. You should pay attention to the other team, ‘cause you’ll know what to do better than us. Let me handle Akashi.”

“Sure, okay.” Kagami raised his palms. Hayama and Akashi stepped into the crowd, and Kagami and Takao turned back to watch the big guy finish his routine. He was still dancing with the boom box on his shoulder, performing freezes on one hand, dives, and other wild acrobatics, all with ease – and without endangering the retro stereo. He was really good, Kagami had to admit. He finished by throwing himself into the air horizontally and landing on his back, spinning to a stop with the boom box cradled against his head like a pillow.

He snored, and then pretended to wake up. “Oh, sorry, I got bored thinking of your dancing. Try and keep me interested.”

“We can’t keep letting them control the stage like that,” Kagami muttered. Takao nodded.

“They’ve got a ton of presence. Isn’t it time for a star like you?”

It certainly would win them some momentum, but Kagami knew that he couldn’t dance two acts in one show – stale moves were the biggest killer of any contest. And besides, he’d look like a serious diva, trying to be worth two dancers.

“I don’t know if it’s the right time. I think we should go for the mixup and do the shorty match right now.”

Takao’s eyes lit up. “Music to my ears. I’m ready to take over.”

Kagami grinned, narrowing his eyes. “Just make sure to make an entrance.”

Takao jumped forward onto the dance floor, leading with his right hip. “Hey, Kuroko-kun, gimme a beat!" 

Kuroko checked the tracklist and skipped to Takao’s song. When Janet Jackson started singing, Takao slapped his thighs once before springing backwards into a back-handspring, followed by a high backflip. He landed in a deep crouch, thrusting his hips and legs backwards and swinging them around. Whistles and yelps greeted this display, as well as a certain baritone sputter.

“Takao, we are in public nanodayo! Restrain yourself, you fool!” 

Even Kagami blushed when Takao straightened out his back to thrust his ass out and bat his eyelashes at Midorima. “But, Shin-chan, I’ve just got so much to give…”

“Hell yeah, Takao!” Kagami turned to search for the source of that voice, and saw Shūtoku’s Miyaji put his fingers into his mouth to whistle.

Kimura, right next to him, shouted, “Yeah, learn to share, Midorima!”

Takao popped his ass one more time and then threw a leg into the air as if saddling up on a horse. But then, the girl in the bikini top slid into the arena on her knees, coming right up against Takao’s planted leg.

“Ooh, I like a boy who can dance.” She shimmied up his leg, licking her lips. But if they were expecting Takao to freeze up like Akashi, they’d picked the wrong member of the team. Takao laughed, throwing his still lifted leg over her head and putting his ass into her hips. She was thrown off balance, and caught herself after a step backwards. 

Takao was still laughing, but Kagami saw the seriousness shining in his eyes as he said, “Let’s see if you can tame the hawk, sister!”

She took the initiative then, rolling from her standing position onto the tops of her shoulders to freeze there and do the splits, rising into a handstand to show off her legs. Takao laughed and started a cartwheel, but froze mid-cartwheel, doing the splits himself, or close enough. Kagami knew it was definitely a harder move to stop a cartwheel and hold a handstand. Takao had her beat there.

She bounced off of her hands and landed on her heels to cock her hips and cross her arms under her boobs, pushing them up as she two-stepped, then tossed her arms out to let her boobs move back. Kagami blushed, but it was a good way for her to draw attention. 

Before she could draw too much attention, though, Takao traced his fingers up his legs and drew the bottom of his tank-top up, then in a single motion, performed a front somersault, his tank-top sailing off into the crowd. Kagami felt his blush deepen as he realized what Takao had done. Now topless, Takao smiled, equal parts dirty and triumphant. 

He cocked his own hips. “Well?”

The crowd roared, and Bikini-top blushed and frowned. Kagami saw she had to think, now, and that was the problem. She stomped her foot.

She stepped back to her team. “Ugh. _You_ are good; I can admit that.”

Takao turned back to look at Kagami, sweaty and smiling. “How was that?”

“That was awesome.” Kagami raised his palm, and Takao slapped him a high-five as he returned. 

Kagami continued: “We definitely have something now. I still think they look better than us, though.”

Takao frowned. “So, we need another win before we can really knock them dead?”

Kagami nodded. “Yeah. It’d be nice to see what Hayama can do before I go out there, but. I think I’ll have to have faith and dance first.”

The guy in the button-down came out next. His choice of music was 2pac, and, strangely enough, his trimmed moustache, flaring unbuttoned shirt, and ultra-crisp moves fit well with the laid-back flow and punching tones of 2pac’s voice. Kagami rolled his neck and breathed out. 2pac was a Cali boy – Kagami’s territory. And nobody was gonna stomp on Kagami’s team with 2pac playing.

“Kagami-kun?” Kuroko asked. Kagami grinned. Kuroko could always tell when Kagami was spoiling for a challenge.

“It’s time to turn this one up.” Kagami clenched his fists and took two running steps before leaping as hard as he could, thinking of dunking as he arched himself backwards in the air. He sailed over Moustache easily since the guy was leaning over to start some downrock, and the crowd gasped.

“2pac is _my_ music.” Kagami landed and glared at him, stepping to the beat before twisting to jump and perform a flaring, whirling kick that rotated his body along its vertical axis. Moustache grimaced and sprang up from the downrock he was starting to reply with his own power move, a spinning backflip definitely more complicated than Kagami’s jumping flare.

Kagami shrugged as he stepped, grinning. He tossed his left hand toward his right leg and sprang up onto it, kicking his heels over himself until they landed square on the ground. Kagami pushed off his hand and tossed his right hand down, then used the momentum from landing on his right hand to spring forward to a crouch. He put his chin on his palm and tilted his head.

Trying to sound bored, Kagami said, “So…I’m waiting.”

Moustache grinned and kept stepping, popping and locking his arms, chest, and hips instead of continuing the power moves. Kagami nodded. When he’d entered, he’d noticed Moustache’s reaction to Kagami’s big power moves. Even though Tatsuya was probably right about Kagami’s love of style, there was no doubt that Kagami could also pull off the hardest of the power moves. 

This guy, however, probably couldn’t. His pop-locking was serious, though – despite the amazement Kagami had won with his power moves, Moustache was gaining the crowd back with his impressive coordination and shape-making. But like Tatsuya had said – Kagami was a style-head. 

Kagami locked his fingers together and thrust his hands out, locking as soon as his arms were fully extended. He released his fingers and made his hands into blades as a pop, then locked them straight out, and rolled his arms like waves back into his chest as he rolled his torso and hips toward Moustache.

Moustache thrust his chest and legs out, his leather shoes sliding easily over the cardboard as if he were on ice – and the way they turned left and right, it really seemed so. He was serious now, and his eyes locked with Kagami’s in a deadly glare. But Kagami just tilted his head and laughed, his body crumpling bit-by-bit with every beat. And then he popped up, locking right before he got too close to Moustache, who wasn’t expecting that – he tossed up an arm to defend.

The break in character made the crowd gasp. It was enough – Kagami leaned back to cross his arms and grin.

“You aren’t scared, are you?”

Moustache glared at him again, then turned to step back with his crew, silent. Kagami looked back at Kuroko, who smiled and gave him a thumbs-up. Kagami smiled back, feeling more confident – though there were still more challenges ahead. And finally, he saw that Hayama and Akashi had joined Takao…

Kagami walked off the stage to join them. “Akashi, are you okay?”

Akashi’s expression had changed. He didn’t look scared. He just looked like that annoyingly calm weirdo Kagami had gotten to know in the past few days. “Yes. Hayama had some…important words to share.”

Hayama rolled his eyes. “Akashi always makes mountains out of molehills.”

Akashi smiled. “What an excellent turn of phrase.”

Kagami put a hand to his forehead. “Yeah? And?”

Akashi nodded. “Ah – yes. We had spoken of…breaking it down before, yes? And Hayama helped me to realize…I am…or have been afraid of my groove.”

Kagami hadn’t put it into so many words, but, yeah, that was Akashi’s whole problem. “Okay…”

Hayama huffed. “I thought we had finished with Akashi’s, uh, old problems, but…I still had to make him remember that you can win in more than one way.”

Akashi turned to study him, smiling. “Hayama is a true friend. He has reminded me of the thirst for victory – and how it should drive my actions.” 

Akashi’s expression grew serious. “It’s time to move past this. I’m ready to return to the floor.”

Kagami sighed. “I hate to say it, but you can’t return yet.”

Akashi’s face fell, and Kagami knew it would, so he quickly added, “But here’s a way you can: by stealing someone’s beat.”

Hayama and Akashi both leaned closer. Hayama asked, “What’s that?”

Kagami crossed his arms. “You guys missed it, but when you get your chance to style on your opponent, just take the music from them.”

Despite his newfound calm, Akashi still seemed unsure. “What should I look for?”

Kagami shook his head. “Maybe Hayama didn’t tell you the most important thing. It’s not always something you see – but it’s _always_ something you can feel.”

Akashi nodded. “Then how should I feel?”

Kagami shrugged. “Didn’t you just say something about ‘thirst for victory?’”

Hayama laughed, nodding. “So who’s up?”

Kagami shrugged. “If you guys weren’t back, I was gonna follow up from stealing the beat. But now that you are, I think Hayama should go out for a change of pace.”

Hayama grinned and swung his arms in circles to loosen up. “Awesome! I’m sick of talking.”

It looked like the other team was about to send someone out too, but Hayama hit the floor first. Kuroko played Missy Elliott for him, and Hayama warmed up with some bouncing steps across the arena before spinning around to backflip, landing as smoothly as most people would while jogging.

He grinned widely, his tongue sticking out as he took a skip step and backflipped while running forward. He wobbled in the middle and broke form, and for a moment it looked as though he messed up in midair – but instead of crashing, he caught himself on his hands, freezing in a push-up position without the support of his feet.

A bellow shoved its way easily over the crowd’s cheer. “Oh, _YEAH!_ That’s Kotarō for you! Crush them!”

Kagami saw Nebuya across from him, pumping his fists and continuing to shout. Mibuchi was with him, doing his very best to avoid Nebuya’s swinging arms. His perfect hair swirled as he dodged, pouting. Hayama heard the cheer and winked at Nebuya and Mibuchi before bringing his knees in to end the freeze and spin around to start up some downrock.

It was then that the guy who was dressed like Kagami stepped onto the floor. Seeing him move gave Kagami a really bad feeling – he walked with the smooth steps and strong stride of a natural athlete. He watched Hayama finish his six-step, and then threw himself into a windmill.

“Keep up, huh, blondie?” he said while windmilling faster and faster. Hayama tilted his head, then laughed and started windmilling himself. Kagami laughed too – if anyone could win a windmill-off on the team, it’d probably be Hayama.

“Aw, this is easy though – how about headspins!” Hayama growled, rolling off his shoulders in the middle of a spin to freeze on his knees, then popping up into a headstand. He twisted his hips and lifted his hands off and on, and pretty soon he was spinning like a top.

Athlete followed suit, but Kagami noted that his were accelerating faster than Hayama’s. And, after a few seconds, he’d lifted up onto his hands. Kagami’s eyes grew wide as he began to handspin almost as quickly as he’d been headspinning, alternating between his left and right hand as he did so.

This was Kagami’s bad feeling – Athlete must’ve seen that Hayama was a power-head, and known he could beat Hayama at power moves. He’d baited Hayama into a contest that Hayama couldn’t win…

Hayama noticed somehow, and started to lift up, getting onto his hands. To Kagami’s amazement, he spun once, twice, three times, but as he had to alternate his hands faster and faster, he lost balance, and tipped over to fall.

“Damn it.” He punched the ground, watching Athlete spread his legs out so he looked like a spinning star. Kagami stepped out onto the floor.

“Switch, Hayama. You did great.”

Hayama smiled briefly, then turned away to walk off the floor. Kagami saw him grimace before his face was out of sight. Kagami took a deep breath and watched Athlete spinning around on his hands for a moment, then sighed and decided enough was enough.

“Don’t puke, dude.” Kagami raised an eyebrow. Athlete arched his back to walk over, land his heels on the ground, and stood up. His face was red from the inversion.

“Hey, I can handle it – can you?”

Kagami sighed and flipped up onto his hands, gaining balance for a moment before beginning to spin slowly, then turning his hips and legs to really gain speed. He pushed off after a few extra turns.

“It’s an okay move.”

Hayama’s song ended then, and switched to Kagami’s song, by Eric B. and Rakim. Athlete snorted at Kagami’s response.

Kagami tossed his head. “You’ve got good moves – but can you dance?”

Athlete frowned as Kagami’s feet slid around the floor, a syncopated rhythm that unraveled further with Rakim’s voice. When Athlete tried to follow with his own steps, Kagami tossed his right leg out, whipping his ankle over his left knee in a flashy figure-four that seemed to carry his hips around til he twisted, turned, and fell over into a push-up position.

Kagami tossed his feet up into the air, arched his back, and drew his feet under him to crouch. Checking behind himself, he saw Athlete land from some power move – but the lack of crowd reaction made Kagami grin. He had this guy on the run.

“Flips are it, huh?” Kagami said, throwing a foot out to start a six-step that he converted into flares, holding his entire body airborne on his hands as he swung his legs around in wide circles.

Athlete crossed his arms and sniffed. “You’re the best of them. We can’t beat _you_.”

Kagami finished his flares by tucking a knee under and spinning up into a one-knee-up, one-knee-down crouch with crossed arms. “I’m not the only one who crushed you.”

At this, Purple Hoodie stepped out from the crew, and Athlete stepped back in.

“He’s not wrong. But _we_ still have plenty of dance left, and I’m getting sick of looking at you, Ace-san.”

Kagami knew she was right. He’d been out twice already; any longer, and he’d definitely drag the team down with stale moves. He gave her a fierce look anyway. “We’re not finished yet.”

He turned back to leave the floor and saw that Tatsuya was now standing and speaking with Akashi; next to Hayama and Takao was Kise, dressed in a long beige trench coat. He wore a sequined fedora on his head.

“Tatsuya! And Kise!” Kagami looked back and forth as he drew near. Himuro grinned.

“Hey, bro. Hope you weren’t sweating my arrival too much.” He looked back at Akashi briefly.

Kagami rolled his eyes. “Well, yeah. But you planned it that way.”

Tatsuya laughed. “Obviously! Hey, is this the last act?”

As if to answer, Purple Hoodie started dancing. Her song was by Biggie, and despite her earlier ballet-esque combinations to upstage Akashi, her steps were all hip-hop now.

She slid across the floor with the synthesizer and did a backflip right when it seemed like she’d run out of momentum. Landing, she cycled down on one leg, then drew the other around it to wrap herself up, but unwound in a single motion until she was in a back-bridge. She pushed up off of her hands just slightly, almost reaching the point where she’d be able to stand, but falling back to her hands to spring back into a handstand. 

Akashi stepped forward, bumping into Tatsuya. “Kagami-san, do you think –”

There wasn’t time to think. Kagami grabbed his shoulder. “Akashi, are you feeling yourself?”

Akashi seemed puzzled by the question. “Perhaps?”

Kagami chuckled. “You heard me and Hayama. Just go out there and _want_ it.” 

Tatsuya looked at Kagami, then at Akashi. “Listen to him, Akashi. Don’t let anyone take the spotlight from you.”

Akashi stepped onto the floor while Purple Hoodie was springing off her hands. When she landed, she caught sight of him and fixed him with a grin.

“You’re a glutton for punishment, Uptight-san.”

But Akashi only chuckled as he warmed up his own steps, looking as light and confident as he did on the basketball court. When she sank into downrock and sprang up suddenly to a half-twist, Akashi answered with a leap over her and sank to his knees, rolling to the ground. When she landed from her twist, Akashi leaped up from his knees to backflip.

“Akashi’s keeping pace a lot better this time…” Hayama still sounded worried. 

Kagami nodded. “He’s got his head in the game this time. And I’m sure he has a plan this time.”

Purple Hoodie’s steps sped up, then, and Kagami had the feeling she was about to start something serious. But as he turned his attention to Akashi, it seemed as though Akashi had picked up on that. Akashi’s eyes pinpointed their focus on her lower legs, then her face, and then her torso.

She had her back turned as Akashi danced along his toes, his light steps matching her rhythmic stomps and jumps exactly. He seemed to be keeping carefully behind her, because as she turned and slid along the ground, he ducked and dove, a smooth forward roll. And as she rose and whirled to perform a one-handed cartwheel, Akashi entered her line of sight suddenly. He mirrored her movement except that he performed the cartwheel with his far hand, while she performed it with her near hand.

Kagami wasn’t sure exactly how he made it work, but her hand slipped, and she landed flat on her stomach, nearly faceplanting. Akashi’s cartwheel, however, was as smooth as a waterfall in a botanical garden, and after he landed, he performed a ballet turn and then a broad, kicking tour jêté over Purple Hoodie’s sprawled form.

“Oh, shit.” Tatsuya giggled. “He just got her with the Emperor Eye.”

Hayama glanced at him, nodding. “I never thought he’d use it for other joints, but…”

The crowd howled their delight. Nebuya in particular was “oh”-ing louder than anyone. Purple Hoodie picked herself up, winded, gaping. Akashi landed from his jêté en demi pointe and turned to bow, rising with red rings glowing in his eyes. He sprang forward, running toward Purple Hoodie to round-off, back-handspring, and backflip over her, landing to drop to the floor and roll on his knees with his head lolling back, a classic ballet pose.

He was both languid and poised – Kagami loved it. He was actually making ballet work with the Notorious B.I.G.. Purple Hoodie stood, but when she began to gain momentum for her moves, the song faded out. Akashi smiled at her and held out his arm, palm up, displaying her as a partner in dance. He then turned to the crowd, and swept his hand across his chest, sinking down to a knee to bow fully.

Was it over already? Kagami wasn’t sure yet. Akashi had served her back – but that meant another round, and he didn’t think they could go again.

An electronic screech announced a megaphone’s activation, “And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for: the one, the _only_ , Kiseeeeeeee _Ryoooootaaaaa_!”

That was…Tatsuya’s voice? Kagami turned back to see Tatsuya standing on one of the struts of the bridge’s supports, holding a megaphone to his mouth. He hopped off and melted back into the crowd as Kuroko pressed play on the boom box, and when Kuroko cranked up the volume, Kagami realized it was Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean.”

Kise moonwalked onto the stage from the crowd, smooth and efficient – Kagami didn’t notice any skidding or shifting in his center of gravity. When he twisted his ankles around and spun, he threw his trench coat off and grabbed his crotch in a single gesture, revealing shining black leather pants and jacket that matched his sparkling sequined fedora; a light pink dress shirt accented by a red bow tie; and crisp white shoes with black wingtips on the toes.

Kagami couldn’t help but say, “No way.”

The screams from the crowd were much less articulate than Kagami. He could feel the undulation of people leaning forward to get a closer look at their star, who winked and smiled with white teeth. 

Kise thrust his hips up as he rose onto the tips of his shoes, letting out a high-pitched “Hee!” before dropping down into a whirling spin that caused his jacket’s tails to flare out. He lifted the collar of his coat up as he stopped, shifting his hips then to cock his knees in the same direction, then dropped it all and spun again in the other direction. He threw his right fist down as he stopped, rolling his right sleeve up with his left hand, and made a pained face, then jumped up onto his toes again before sliding down to whirl and moonwalk across the stage again.

If Akashi had shifted the tide of attention back to his team, Kise was singlehandedly swallowing every last drop of attention. The other team watched in utter awe as Kise’s Perfect Copy replicated Michael Jackson before them, down to the facial expressions and falsetto. Kagami knew they wouldn’t even try to top it – they’d only look even worse by comparison.

Kise twirled one last time, pointed out to the crowd with his hips up and sequined fedora covering sultry eyes, and then moonwalked to Kagami as the song ended. The applause, cheers, screams…Kagami couldn’t hear anything over it. Everyone was going crazy.

“Holy crap, Kise, that was awesome!” Hayama shouted. Kise grinned.

“You can thank Himuro-san! He and I practiced a lot in between my shoots.”

Kagami grabbed Kise’s arm. “Seriously, you just stomped them.”

“Kise – thank you.” That was Akashi. Kagami turned to see him sandwiched between two people trying to get a picture of Kise dressed like Michael Jackson. Akashi looked both tired and triumphant. Kagami grinned at him.

“Hey, speaking of stomping – how did you trip her like that?”

Akashi shrugged, a smile slowly making its way across his face. “I’m not sure I can explain the Emperor Eye any more than I already have, but…after observing her center of gravity for a few moments, I was able to disrupt it by distracting her with a very similar move.”

Kagami nodded. “Sure, I guess that makes sense.”

“Hey!” A megaphone-amplified shout managed to make its way through the crowd. “Everybody quiet!” 

That was Purple Hoodie. Somehow the crowd actually listened to her. She stood in the middle of the dance floor with Tatsuya, holding his megaphone to her mouth.

“Tatsuya…” Kagami grumbled.

“It’s time to decide! Who won: Spray Paint, or…uh…” She turned and whispered something to Tatsuya, who whispered back.

She put the megaphone back to her mouth. “Who won: Spray Paint, my crew? Or, the Crew of Miracles, Kise’s crew?”

The crowd began to chant: “Ki-Se! Ki-Se! Ki-Se! Ki-Se!”

Purple Hoodie nodded. “Yeah. I thought so.”

She sighed and pointed to the crowd. “Thanks for showing up. You guys rock!” 

She handed the megaphone to Tatsuya and stepped back to talk to her crew. Kise had already vanished into the crowd, assumedly to sign autographs. Kagami looked at Takao, who shook his head.

“Who thought we’d see that?” He chuckled. “I mean, Akashi made a great move, but, still. Kise destroyed.”

Kagami nodded. “Yeah, it’s true. The crowd loved Kise – not that it’s a huge surprise.”

Tatsuya shouldered his way through the crowd to say, “Hey, did I deliver or what?”

Akashi bowed. “I owe you, Himuro-san.”

Kagami grinned. “You love a big entrance, for sure.”

Tatsuya laughed. “Yeah, that was part of it; I knew that we wouldn’t win with it unless we went all the way.”

He shrugged, and continued: “But also – it was such an awesome ace up my sleeve that I was worried you might rely on it too much. Didn’t want you guys to lose your thirst for the win.”

Kagami rolled his eyes. As if he _ever_ lost that. But Akashi smiled, and Hayama nodded. 

Takao chuckled at that, too. “We sure danced for our lives. Or Akashi’s life, anyway. I’m glad the crowd agreed.”

At this, Kagami frowned, the thought from earlier returning to him. “I still don’t get it, though. Where did this crowd come from? We just formed five days ago, and I’ve never heard of any breaking scene in Japan…”

Akashi crossed his arms, a cherubic smile gracing his features. “Ah. Now that we’re on the other side of this, I suppose _I_ can reveal my, ah, ‘ace up the sleeve.’”

Everyone turned to look at him.

Akashi put his hand under his chin as he said, “Anonymously, of course, I made a series of posts on several social media sites, hinting at and eventually letting slip that Kise Ryōta had gotten himself involved in an underground dance competition. He’d need the cheers of a crowd to come out on top. Given such a devoted fan base, it was an easy lure.”

Kagami’s mouth opened automatically with nothing to say. The smile on Akashi’s face begged for a smack to wipe it off, but he really had earned the gloat. Tatsuya looked at Akashi with wide eyes.

“Even I have to admit that’s a good one.”

Akashi shook his head, still smiling, and when he spoke, he sounded like a teacher. “Someday, you’ll see – opening moves only work when you plan ahead _without_ your opponent’s knowledge.”

And then he chuckled, as if remembering a punch line. “Of course, you also need an excellent _team_ to complete a plan like this.”

Hayama gave him a noogie. “That’s our captain! I’m gonna go find Ei-chan and Reo-nee – and then let’s all go get milkshakes!”

Hayama craned his neck to look for Nebuya and Mibuchi and waded off into the crowd. Akashi bowed again to Tatsuya, Kagami, and Takao individually, and then left.

Takao shrugged; still shirtless, Kagami realized. “Hey, this was great. If you ever need a dance partner again, hit me up.”

He laughed. “But Shin-chan is probably going to read me the riot act for public indecency. I’d better face his fury sooner rather than later. See you around, Kagami and Himuro-san.”

Kagami turned to Tatsuya once Takao had left, and saw that Kuroko was right next to him. “Whoa! Kuroko, where did you come from?”

“I was here the whole time.” Kuroko said, his hand keeping the boom box leaning against his leg. Tatsuya jumped when he heard Kuroko’s voice next to him.

“Kagami-kun is a great dance leader.” Kuroko smiled as he spoke. “Akashi-kun wouldn’t have been able to figure out his groove without a friend like you.”

Kagami blushed and looked away. “Uh. Thanks, Kuroko. It was a ton of fun, actually.”

Kuroko was still smiling when he said, “And they aren’t kidding when they say it feels good to be a gangster. I feel pretty cool right now.”

Tatsuya and Kagami looked at each other before looking at Kuroko. The shutter-shades, the dress-like basketball jersey, the “SWAG” chain…

Kuroko looked back and forth between the two of them, his expression carefully netural. "Did I say something funny?"


	7. Epilogue: Just Desserts

The immediate result in Kagami’s life was that the Seirin basketball team had become even more famous. Everyone at school mobbed him like they had after the Winter Cup, asking about his cool moves, wanting demonstrations…Kagami had blushed and muttered excuses about soreness.

And at practice, Kagami had been grilled– how did he learn to dance like that? Could he teach lessons? And, of course, Coach wanted to know: Was he going to ruin his body by continuing to do double workouts, dancing and basketball practice?

His answers were all straightforward:

“I learned on the street, duh.”

“No way, this was kinda a one-time-gig for Akashi.” (ugh)

“And, again, no way. Dancing was hella fun, no question, but basketball’s why I got good at anything in the first place, and basketball’s my passion forever.”

Kagami was still getting a flood of friend requests on Facebook, and it had been a full week since the dance-off. He hadn’t added any of them, except for the five members of “Spray Paint,” the opposing crew. Saito Ayaka, their captain, was cool – and the videos she posted of her dancing were really good.

He wasn’t too hot about being considered one of “The Crew of Miracles,” but that was Tatsuya’s invention, anyway, so it made sense that it got under his skin. The fact that it kept popping up on his wall and his news feed and all over the place was a little annoying, but soon enough, it’d just be a fond memory.

Kagami sighed and closed Facebook, figuring now was the time to return to homework. It was almost dinner-time, and an assignment done before dinner-time made for good momentum into the evening.

His phone buzzed, and buzzed – someone was calling. Kagami checked, and groaned. Akashi Seijūro. Kagami took a deep breath, and remembered that his new plan was to say “no” to whatever Akashi asked him to do, no matter how simple it might sound.

“Hello?”

Akashi’s voice was as crisp as ever. “Good evening, Kagami-san. I hope I don’t trouble you, but I’m afraid if we wait any longer, we shall be late. Please come outside.”

Late? Waiting outside? “Late for what?”

Akashi chuckled. “Late for dinner. Reservations are for five-thirty sharp, and it’s already five minutes past four.”

Dinner? Kagami’s heart jumped. “What – I am _not_ interested – you and I aren’t going out to dinner.”

Akashi chuckled again. Kagami didn’t like this whole private joke he seemed to be making with himself. Akashi spoke again, “Oh, no, you’re not taking _me_ to dinner, I assure you. But, please, I implore you. Come outside, or your _guest_ will have to wait on you.”

Guest? Akashi hung up before Kagami could ask more. Kagami looked at his phone, looked at his open math textbook, and groaned again. Why? He was going to be good tonight and try to start early…

Kagami stepped into his outdoor shoes, locked the door behind him, and rode the elevator down to the street level. A black limousine opened its doors to reveal Akashi, his knowing smile filling Kagami with dread.

“Please come in. We have to make sure that the suit I ordered fits you.”

Kagami stopped walking toward the car. “You ordered me a suit?

Akashi checked his watch and nodded. “Kagami-san, if you must verify every statement I make, you’ll be very late, and I assure you that I’ve called in enough favors for one evening. I’d rather not have to make excuses to your chef for tonight.”

Kagami wasn’t sure if he was about to become embroiled in another of Akashi’s schemes, but Akashi looked up from his watch and gestured.

“Come in, please. We can choose your cuff links and tie on our way.”

His feet seemed to move for him, plopping him down on the incredibly comfortable leather seat across from Akashi. Akashi reached out to shut the door, and once he had, his driver put the car in gear, and they were moving.

“Now that we are on our way, I have a moment to explain myself.”

Akashi met Kagami’s gaze with great amusement dancing in his scarlet eyes.

“You see, although I was able to strike a great blow against our opponents with my stratagem of the crowd, the more I considered it, the more I realized it would have been empty – and perhaps even ineffectual – without your contributions.”

Kagami snorted, though he didn’t feel like he understood where Akashi was going with this.

“I said several times that I owed you and Himuro-san. And this is true. I do owe you both.” Akashi sounded serious.

“And so I found myself at a loss – how could I repay a man who has everything?”

Kagami blinked. Kagami was the man who had everything? He was just a high-school kid who was good at basketball. Akashi had a car with comfy leather seats, and a guy to drive it for him.

“You may wonder at that, but I do envy you, in some ways. You have a confidence and experience in life that I do not.” Akashi sighed and shook his head, his smile returning. “Ah, but here I am, growing too serious.”

“There was one thing I thought I might be able to help you with, however. And this dinner out should resolve all of that. But I’m getting ahead of myself.”

Akashi picked up a leather attaché case next to him and opened it, pulling out a pair of small boxes. “Your cuff links – would you prefer red stars or basketballs?”

Kagami couldn’t believe he wasn’t dizzy after hearing all of that. Here he thought Akashi was supposed to be sane again. “Uh…”

Akashi opened the cases, revealing cuff links as he described.

Kagami scratched his head. “So…you didn’t buy these for _me_ , right?”

Akashi tilted his head. “Of course. I and my personal shopper picked them out for your date tonight, yes.”

Kagami shook his head. “But…”

Akashi sighed. “Kagami-san, please. Allow me to be frank. I appreciate your humility. And I am offering you a gift of my own free will. You have saved my dignity. And let’s not forget how much you already have helped me learn the true meaning of teamwork.”

Kagami thought that sounded pretty cool, actually. Even though it had just been a dancing competition. “Alright. Uh…how about the basketballs?”

Akashi nodded. “I think they suit you.”

He put them back in his case and pulled out three neckties – a grey, a blue, and a green. They were shining silk. Kagami had never seen any nicer-looking ties.

Akashi looked at the ties and said, “Your suit is a charcoal-grey – obviously we can’t try it on in here – but try and imagine it, and hopefully think about which tie you’d prefer?”

“Uh, I like the blue one already…” Kagami shrugged. Akashi smiled widely, as if it were a joke, and put the ties back. The car made a turn and after a moment came to a stop outside a skyscraper.

“Oh, goodness, we’ve already arrived. Now, we’ll try on your suit in one of my offices before we head to the restaurant, which is in the penthouse, of course.” Akashi opened the door, picked up his case, and ushered Kagami out.

Kagami looked back to the limo. “Is that, like, your normal car?”

Akashi beamed at him. “Of course not. I borrowed it from a friend for this special occasion.”

They walked into the building, passing the security desk after Akashi simply nodded his head politely at the guard. Kagami felt seriously out of place in his t-shirt and gym shorts, since everyone else – including Akashi – was wearing business suits. But no one seemed to notice. Kagami considered that Aomine and Murasakibara probably had been brought along with Akashi before, too. So people were at least used to seeing underdressed kids with Akashi.

Akashi called the elevator and sent them up to the twelfth floor, where they exited into a hallway that opened into a long labyrinth of cubicles. Akashi led Kagami into a corner office and shut the door, sighing as he looked out on a view of Tokyo Bay shining under the afternoon sun. Even though they were probably just as high up as Kagami was at his apartment, he felt bigger here.

“Alright. Let’s see how you look.”

Akashi opened one of the closets and pulled out a suit bag, laying it carefully on his desk and unzipping it. As he had said, it was a masterfully sewn charcoal suit and pants with a pressed white shirt lying underneath. Akashi looked at Kagami expectantly.

“Oh, uh.” Kagami took his shirt, shorts, and shoes off and pulled the dress shirt off its hanger, buttoning it up. It fit perfectly, tightening just slightly as he breathed.

“Good. I’m glad I still have an eye for these things,” Akashi murmured, opening his case to pull out Kagami’s new cuff links. He pinned the left cuff closed, then the right. Kagami pulled the slacks on next, and when he zipped them up and buttoned them, he had the same feeling – Akashi had measured him perfectly.

“Not too tight?” Akashi asked. Kagami shook his head. Akashi tilted his head as he looked at Kagami’s waist.

“Would you like a belt?” Akashi put his fist under his chin as his head returned to a neutral pose.

“Nah, I, uh, don’t normally…” Kagami scratched his head. Akashi nodded.

“Good. Please try the jacket, and then let’s tie your tie.”

The jacket fit excellently. Akashi wanted to see it buttoned and open, even though he had said it was perfect when it was first put on. Kagami was starting to feel like a doll on exhibition, and made to reach for his tie and head out when Akashi laughed.

“Ah! Before we forget – you’re missing shoes and socks.”

Akashi went back into his closet and pulled out several pairs of socks – black, white, red, blue, even a green-and-orange polka-dot – along with a pair of dress shoes.

“Now, these may not fit. It was hard to estimate your shoe size based on your basketball shoes, but hopefully I managed.”

Kagami picked the black socks to get this over with and put them on before slipping his feet into the black dress shoes. They were fine – he didn’t get why Akashi was making such a fuss over all this – and so he put his tie around his neck, fit it under his collar, made the loop the loop, pulled it through and tightened.

The expression on Akashi’s face was, at first, pure shock. It changed then to pity, before he finally realized Kagami was watching him, and then he smiled, embarrassed.

“Forgive my intrusion, but – I can’t let you leave with your tie looking like that.”

Akashi dutifully reversed Kagami’s knot before turning the collar of the shirt up and slowly knotting the tie under Kagami’s throat. He turned Kagami’s collar down and smiled.

“There you are. It looks great on you.” Akashi opened the door of his closet wider to reveal a long mirror. Kagami looked at himself, and, yeah, he did look good. He looked really tall, and his shoulders looked broad and straight. Plus the grey suit and blue tie made his hair look fiery – more dramatic than usual, anyway.

“Now, don’t keep your date waiting.”

Kagami turned, remembering those words from earlier. “Wait – who is –”

Akashi pushed him out of the office and toward the elevator. “Now’s not the time for that.”

Once in the elevator, Akashi pushed the button for the penthouse.

“Seriously, Akashi, who am I going to dinner with?” This was getting weird. It was odd enough that Akashi had _bought_ him a suit, but now he was sending Kagami on a blind date with some rich girl? Kagami didn’t even like girls – well, not like _that_ , anyway…

The elevator doors opened before Akashi could answer, and Kagami looked out to see a wide, red room with round tables, empty but for a single occupant, whose light blue hair matched his sky-blue kimono. Kuroko smiled as he saw Kagami, and raised his hand in greeting.

“Hello.”

Though Kuroko usually looked pretty good in school clothes, the long lines of the kimono made him look…Kagami blushed when the word “attractive” came up in his head, followed by “artful,” “poised,” and –

“Please, don’t worry about a single thing. I’ve taken care of everything. And I mean – everything.” Kagami turned to see one last disarming smile from Akashi before the elevator door shut, and he was gone. Kagami turned back to look at Kuroko, who was still watching him.

“Uh, hi, Kuroko.” Kagami waved back and walked over to the table. Kuroko got up and pulled out Kagami’s chair before returning to his own seat.

“Oh, uh, thanks.”

“You’re welcome, Kagami-kun.” Kuroko turned his head down to look at the menu before him, his cheeks slightly pink. Kagami realized it was a blush. He himself was probably still blushing. If they were both blushing…

Kagami picked up the menu as well. It was pretty fancy-looking – the characters were all stylized kanji, and…there weren’t any prices anywhere. Kagami put his menu down, suddenly more embarrassed than anticipatory.

“Kuroko – this is so weird. Did Akashi make you come here too?”

Kuroko put his menu down slowly. “In a manner of speaking…but I do want to be here now.”

Oh. Well. Kagami realized that he sounded kind of rude now. And – damn it – he might as well say it! “I mean – I want to be here with you too! Of course. But don’t you think Akashi’s being totally weird about this?”

Kuroko’s blush brightened, and he smiled. “Akashi-kun’s plans are often hard to understand for everyone but Akashi-kun.”

Kagami nodded, listening to the sound of sizzling cooking, then looking at the striking red wood that decorated the room, and then at the view of Tokyo Bay. “Yeah, he’s totally unreadable.”

“But Kagami-kun does want to have a nice evening with me.”

Kagami turned back. He _had_ just said that. So he might as well go all the way. “Yeah. Although of course Akashi would think we’d have to eat on top of a skyscraper to have a nice evening.”

Kuroko nodded. “Remember that he needed to lose in the finals of the Winter Cup to understand his inner self.”

Kagami laughed. Despite all the fanfare and bustle, he was glad to have the alone time, finally. He started to say something, but a big rumble from his stomach interrupted.

“We’d better get started on the menu, Kagami-kun.” Kuroko’s expression grew serious. “I gave it a look before you came and already ordered tempura vegetables and sashimi tuna.”

Kagami grinned. “You’re the best.”

Kuroko blushed. After a moment, he said quietly, “I think Kagami-kun is the best.”

He was looking right into Kagami’s eyes, big and blue and waiting. Kagami thought that this was probably the part where he should kiss him. So, considering Kuroko had been put through the Akashi wringer this afternoon as well, and considering that Kagami had been meaning to ask Kuroko out for…well…too long, Kagami just stood up, leaned over the table, and kissed Kuroko, right on the mouth.

A clatter of plates made them both turn to look at their server, who had a stack of dishes with food that smelled amazingly savory and tantalizing.

“Should I wait a few moments?”

Kagami shook his head. “Please, no – I’m starving!”

“He needs that badly.” Kuroko was also serious.

Soon enough, Kagami was eating right off the serving plate, after Kuroko had portioned himself some, and Kagami had the thought that saying “yes” to Akashi _very rarely_ and on a _strictly case-by-case_ basis wouldn’t be a bad thing.

 

~~~

 

_In Akita…_

 

Himuro walked into his room, finally done with a long day of class, and found Atsushi sprawled on the bed, eating some kind of hard candy. He was kicking his heels into the bare mattress. Wait, a bare mattress? And – Atsushi couldn’t fit his heels onto Himuro’s bed normally, so how…?

“Atsushi – that bed is – ”

Atsushi flicked a folded purple notecard at him. “For Murochin.”

Himuro caught the spinning note and opened it. Delicate calligraphy decorated its inside, the product of a practiced hand.

_Dear Himuro-san,_

_One thousand thanks are in order. Or, at least, a bed large enough for the two of you, I think. Included are sheets; I thought it would be rude to buy a custom-size bed and send nothing to cover it with._

_Enjoy,_

_Akashi Seijūrō_

 

Himuro clenched his fist, crumpling the card up. He looked the bed over - it had to be three meters long. Atsushi appeared normal-sized.

Himuro grimaced. “Where are the sheets?”

Atsushi inclined his head toward the bag on the ground. Himuro stepped over to it and pulled out a set of white sheets, then grey sheets, a brilliant purple sheet, and – he gritted his teeth – a white-and-pink-stripe sheet with a thicker pink slash down each side, a replica of the Yōsen uniform pattern.

“Do you see what this is?” Himuro looked at Atsushi with fury. Atsushi shrugged.

“Akachin got you good, Murochin. Does this mean it’s on?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The shameful/incredible origins of this idea can be found in this clip: http://southpark.cc.com/clips/104248/its-on
> 
> Much credit and thanks to my wonderful partner in crime, Red252 - editing, giggling, and much making fun of Oreshi - without you, this story never would've happened. Also, Tatsuya never would've talked as much shit as he does. So, THANK YOU.
> 
> And thank you all for reading! This has been a fantastic ride to write, and it's awesome to hear everyone's thoughts. I'm so glad you like it!


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